The Calm before the Storm
by Dark-Wings the Kind
Summary: After the defeat of Queen Chrysalis, the mane 6 have had a relatively quiet life...until today. What one of them finds accidentally causes a shift in nature, which, in-turn, causes a whole shit-storm to come. May contain cursing, gore, etc. (OC x ?) OC's are welcomed, so submit if you like. Limit one per person. Will only accept a total of five...for now... On accidental HIATUS
1. Chapter 1: Pain and the Unknown

**A/N: Hello readers! I can't believe I got off my lazy ass to work on this. 'This' being my first Fan-fic. Which also means that I need constructive criticism and...Well, you should know reading other firsts by now. Rate fairly and, if you like, Favorite it. If not, then fuck off, move on and don't cry to me. You're the one who read it (Or at least to here). Rated 'T' for blood, gore, some adult language, drug use (a cookie to who can guess the drug), and ponies. Love you all and enjoy!**

**Chapter 1: Pain and the Unknown**

***Narrator***

The skies were darkened by dreary, gray clouds. The likes of which the inhabitants of Ponyville have not seen in a good, long while. There has not been much need for a storm of this magnitude until a dry-spell hit the land a few months prior. No, not a magical spell or incantation, those are easily reversible, but one of nature, that which not even the citizens' Matriarch, Princess Celestia, could change. It was on this particular day that a certain pink mare made a shocking discovery that blew most of what she and her friends thought of their existence clear out of the water. But, alas, this is not their story, it is his. Oops! Getting ahead of myself. Anyway, where was I...? Hmm...? *Someone hands him a piece of paper*...Uh...I...but...sigh...looks like I've been fired. Oh well, Time to switch perspectives anyway.

"Who are you talking to, Marty?"

"Dammit, mom! I'm recording right now! And don't call me by my name, I have to stay anonymous!"

"What did you say?! Don't you dare talk back to your mother, young man! I swear, when I'm done with you, you'll wish you were never born! And just you wait till your Father gets home!"

"Dammit all!"

...ahem, sorry 'bout that. New guy...what'cha gonna do? *coughs twice* *Mumbles about something before continuing where Marty left off*

Today started like any normal day when it looks like it's going to rain. Ponies rushing whatever their supposed to do for the day, (whether it be teaching young colts and fillies, delivering mail, or pulling loads for the local apple orchard) only wanting to get them done so they could relax in their warm homes, snuggling with loved ones, nap, etcetera. As most of the inhabitants of the small town were in their homes, a pink mare by the name of Pinkie Pie was bouncing along without a care in the world from her friend Applejack's Family orchard. Pinkie had been there to help Applejack with the apple harvest, but got a little sidetracked…ok, a lot sidetracked. Don't ask, for the love of Celestia, don't ask. She was about halfway home to Sugarcube corner when her tail starts twitching madly. Pinkie darts under the nearest bench, fearful of what might fall this time. For those people, in most cases ponies, who are unfamiliar with Pinkie Pie, her entire body seems to be able to make accurate predictions of what's going to happen, though what exactly will happen is unknown until it does happen. For example, the "Twitchy Tail" means something will fall. Vague, yes, but these predictions have been known to save lives and protect others from harm…only if they heed the warnings…There was that one moving truck incident…anyway, back to Pinkie.

"Ooh, I don't like this one bit!" She lets out a slightly exasperated sigh, wondering when this'll all blow over. She looks past sweet apple acres and something in the distance catches her attention. Little more than a dot in the sky was a lonely red star, twinkling brightly.

"Ooh! Pretty! I wander if Twilight knows what that one's called. **(Insert sounds of gears turning, hamsters running in wheels, and finally a toaster-oven dinging…what? She's not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed, but she is a lot of fun to be around.) **Wait a minute...how can I see that through the clouds?"

And that's when a noise pierces the heavens, sounding unholy in such a quiet location.

The clouds parted around the red dot in the sky, as if ripped to shreds by a raging dragon after its found its hoard stolen. The shriek growing ever louder all the while, Pinkie had to cover her ears from the painful noise, yet never took her eyes off the lone star. As she watched, she noticed it started to move. Or...was it already moving? Before she can ask herself this, the star came closer as if coming straight at her. A blinding red ball of fire streaked past Pinkie's hiding place towards the general direction of the local park. Temporarily blinded by the intense light, she shakes her head clear and looks to where the ball of fire went. After half a second of pure silence, an explosion rocks the small town, shaking it down to its very foundations. Without another word, she rushes towards the crash site to see if anypony was hurt in the falling star's wake.

Upon reaching the site, Pinkie is shocked at the carnage she saw before her. Trees uprooted, grass black and withered in large areas, patches of fire scattered across the park, and a 50 foot trail leading to a gaping hole that slowly filled with steaming rain water. She cautiously approached the hole, not knowing what was inside. She looks inside it, her eyes widening in horror, her lip quivering in fear, and screams.

***Twilight***

I look out my window, seeing the houses light up red slightly as something on the other side of town causes a huge explosion.

I let out a sigh "Curse my infernal habits to tartarus. Maybe if I didn't need these books reorganized every other day, then I could have seen what made that huge noise."

I let out another sigh, looking to my left to see Spike, my number one assistant, curled up in his bed, oblivious to the noise and tremors.

_Honestly, how he can sleep through this is beyond me. Well, might as well finish this before I go to bed…_

I then spend the next ten minutes putting books on the shelves almost exactly where they were originally.

_I wonder how the others are doing... _

I go to walk down stairs, noting with growing boredom that there was nothing left to do. I decide I might as well try to get some sleep, and head to the kitchen.

_Warm milk and honey might just do the trick._

I open my fridge, looking expectantly for the carton with the answer to my self-imposed insomnia. After shifting the contents of the fridge around for a bit, I notice the elusive jug, right in front of me.

_Ugh, looks like I really DO need to work less._

Taking the carton out and setting it on the counter, I turn to my pantry for the little bottle of nectar. This time finding it with relative ease, I set the honey down next to the milk and went to get a mug when I hear a loud, rapid banging at my door. I let out another sigh before going to the late arrival. Noticing the rain coming down harder than ever, I decide I can't turn them away. I turn the doorknob, open it wide, and feel my stomach drop. Standing, soaked, in my doorway, fear in her eyes and with mud and blood all over her figure, was Pinkie Pie, with a body draped over her back.

***?***

Darkness…painfully quiet darkness hell bent on consuming me. I drift in that darkness; not knowing which way is up or down, floundering in what seems like eternity.

_Am I dead…? This seems too depressing to be death…but…how would I know if I was truly de-OW!_

My head throbs painfully, as if it itself is tired of my bitching.

_Ugh…Ok, if I can feel pain, then I must not be dead. Maybe I…wait…I think I hear voices…_

As I try to focus on the voices, I notice I'm lying on something soft. The object in question slightly contouring to my body.

_Am I in a bed…? Ugh, what happened last night…?_

Still focusing on the voices, I notice they sound concerned over something.

_Hmm…this is all rather strange. Well, let's see if I can still move. _

I try to move my left leg, pain blossoming through it up to my spine.

_Oh my GAH…! Fuck does that hurt! Well…ow…can't move it but at least I can feel it._

I then try my other limbs, getting similar results. I sigh inwardly, not wanting to question why I keep putting myself through this pain.

_All right, let's see if I can...well...see._

Trying to move my eyelids turned out to be like moving two mountains of lead.

_This can't be good. What happened to me? Why am I lying down? I should be up, doing someth-oh! My eyelids slid open...finally..._

Slowly opening my leaden lids, I'm temporarily blinded by a patch of sunlight. Blinking a bit, getting used to the light, I survey what's to my left.

_So…I'm in a house, huh? Wonder who brought me in here… I'll have to thank them later. Maybe they know how I got hurt…_

My head throbs in protest to my viewing, aching more than I can stand.

"Ugh…this sucks…" my voice sounds gravely and weak. I close my eyes as the pain throbs in my head. How close to death had I gotten?

"Ooh! Twilight! He's awake! Looklooklooklooklook! See?!" a voice blares close to me, causing my headache to increase tenfold.

_Oh for the love of all that is sacred and pure! What the hell is that infernal noise?! Make it stop! Make it stop!_

A second voice speaks up, trying to quiet down the source of my torment "Thank you for telling me, Pinkie. I really appreciate all that you've done. Why don't you go and get some sleep, but maybe you should take a bath first."

"Oh yeah! I forgot I still had his blood on me! Whoopsie!"

_Whoopsie?! What's so "Whoopsie" about having blood all over you?! And are they talking about me? Oh no, how much blood spilt?! Hopefully it didn't stain anything..._

I slowly turn my head towards the source of the noise, wanting to see for myself what caused me so much pain. As my head is ¾ of the way turned, I almost collide with something pink and fluffy. Forgetting about the amount of pain I'm in, I jump backwards out of the bed, straight into a wall and unceremoniously landing in a heap on the floor.

"GAAAH!" Pain surges almost immediately through my limbs, causing me temporary blindness and the inability to hear. I barely take any notice of the clamoring of the two as they tried to help me back up to the bed. I squint through the pain to see who helped me, and see two blurs of color, one pink and one purple. As my vision clears, it the blurs take on more definition, becoming equines, both mares by the looks of things. The pink one tearing up heavily, apparently knowing what caused me to jump back.

The pain slowly reduces itself to a mild throbbing, to which I test my voice "Where…am I…?"

_That…was frighteningly weak…_

"OhmygoshohmygoshohmygoshIamsosorry!" The pink one stammers at an extremely fast pace, tears falling down her face. **(Ha. Rhyming.)**

The other turns to her companion, trying to calm her down "It's okay, Pinkie Pie. It was just an accident."

_So her name's Pinkie Pie, huh? That…seems to fit really well._

She turns to me "You're currently in my house, recovering from a horrible crash. That falling star last night must have collided with you mid-flight, which would explain why you were in the crater."

_Wait…I survived WHAT?! Mid-flight…? Hmm…_

I look from one to the other, deciding what I should say or do, might as well ask a question or two **(Zecora get out of my head, you're time comes later)** "So…" I never got to ask a question, as Pinkie seemed to have a revelation or epiphany of some kind, turning from depressed to shocked and slightly giddy.

She breathes in sharply "I've never seen you around before and I know EVERYpony! Twilight, I gotta go!"

"Oh, Pinkie" she left before Twilight could finish. "wait…" she sighs, then mumbles a little bit.

"Does…she always do that?"

"Yes, that's just Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie. Oh, forgive me, I'm Twilight sparkle. Who are you?"

I say nothing, the pain seeming to come back.

She stares at me, smiling and waiting patiently for an answer. A feeling of dread creeping through me as my thoughts all turn up blank.

…_Let me think…what IS my name? Why can't I remember?_

She seems to get irritated at the silence "Well? You going to tell me or not?"

"I…don't know…" she cocks an eyebrow at me.

"What do you mean you don't know? Surely you must know who you are. Do you at least know where you came from? You look to be a Pegasus who was on an errand of some sort."

Searching through my muddled thoughts, more blanks are drawn up. A new pain starts to spread across my back, though "Ow…what the fu-AH!"

"Oh! Please, don't move your wings. They seem to be at the very least dislocated, and one of them seems to be broken…"

I search through my mind for a clue to who I was, despite the pain coursing through my body. After about a minute of searching I find "...Nothing."

"What?" My statement seems to have caught her off guard.

"I don't remember anything. Who I am, where I'm from, hell, I didn't even know I was a pegasus till you said something."

Her expression dims hearing this bit of information "You must have amnesia, then..." And my feelings follow her expressions example. Before I could say something else, she brightens a bit, looks down to the lower level, and calls to someone "Spike? You still here?"

A voice from below replies "Yes Twilight. Who wouldn't when Pinkie Pie Races past? What do you need?"

"Go get the others and tell them our guest is awake."

"Alright, need anything else?"

"No Spike. Just inform the others, ok?"

"Alright, be back in a jiff." A door closes downstairs.

I turn to Twilight, my face apparently asking my question for me.

"Oh, that was my assistant, Spike. He helped me and Pinkie clean and dress your wounds. We would have taken you to the hospital, but it was raining really hard last night and we didn't want to risk the chance of an infection."

_Hmm...That makes sense...Huh...? She doesn't look like a pegasus, No wings but a horn. Sigh, curse my amnesia._ "I see...um...out of curiosity, what are you?"

She visually appears ticked by this, as if I asked some extremely obvious question "Isn't it obvious?! I'm a Unicorn!" She then seems to remember what we already concluded minutes ago. "Oh...sorry...I forgot you can't remember anything. To save you from future embarrassment, here is a brief explanation..."

That 'brief' explanation turned out to be an hour long.

"So, any questions?"

"Um, yeah...what? Sorry, I didn't really catch any of that."

She closes her eyes and puts her hoof to her face, quite hard, from the sound of it "Haa...to put it in the simplest terms I can think of: Pegasi have wings and fly, Unicorns have horns and use magic, and earth ponies have neither but are more physically strong."

_Why didn't you just say that in the beginning?_ "Ah, sorry about not understanding what you sa-AGH!" Pain rips through my abdomen, causing me to lean forward and clutch it with my arms.

"Oh! Don't move around so much! You'll tear open the wounds! They seem to have just recently begin to close up, too."

The sound of a door opening and closing causes Twilight to look away from me. Spike's voice then makes itself known "Twilight! I brought them!"

"Thanks, Spike. Can you bring them up here? Our guest can't move without causing himself pain."

I hear floorboards creak as Spike leads what sounds like small group to the second floor. I look to my right and see four differently colored mares standing with a...purple lizard? I examine the group a bit before turning to Twilight "Who are these ponies? Friends of yours?"

She smiles and tilts her head "Why, yes. How did you know?"

I shrug, wincing slightly from the pain my shoulders sent through me "Just a guess..."

"Ah, well, allow me to introduce my friends to you. On the left we have Rarity. She owns the clothing store, Carousel Boutique."

Rarity nods with a smile. "Hello."

"Next we have Applejack, Proud owner of Sweet apple acres."

Applejack nods her head as well "Howdy."

Twilight's horn glows with magic, causing a mouse to squeak, or...wait, did that come from behind Applejack? In what looked like a faint lavender cocoon of magic, was a yellow pegasus trying to hide behind her pink mane "This is Fluttershy. She doesn't speak much to strangers, but she'll help anything if it's hurt. She takes care of all the woodland creatures around here."

Fluttershy peaks out from behind her mane only to notice me looking at her. "Eep!"

…_I may be groggy and not in the right frame of mind, but that has to be __the__ cutest sound I've heard in my life…well, all 2 hours of remembered life, that is._

She puts Fluttershy down, apologizing for the sudden movement while Fluttershy goes back to hide behind Applejack "Next we have Pinkie Pie. She helps Mr. and Mrs. Cake at Sugercube corner."

"Hiya!"

"Finally, we have Rainbow Dash. She's the weather mare in charge of Ponyville's...well, weather."

"What's up?"

The purple lizard seems to be irritated at not being mentioned "And what am I? Rotten apples?"

"He-he, sorry." She gestures to the lizard "This is Spike, my number one assistant. He may be a small dragon, but he has a big heart."

"Hey! I'm not that small!"

The six mares start to laugh whole heartedly, Spike joins after a bit. As they're all calming down, Applejack turns to me with a smile on her face "So what we gonna call ya, sugarcube?"

_Uh...what?_ "Sugarcube?"

"Ah call everypony that. So what we gonna call ya?"

I frown a little "Hmm...I haven't put much thought into that."

Pinkie's face then gains a smile that doesn't even look remotely possible "Ooh! I know! Why don't we look at his cutie mark to come up with a name for him?!"

And once again, the headache returns.

"Ugh, what's a...cutie mark?"

Her face deadpans, then grows into a huge frown "WHAT?! YOU MEAN TO TELL ME YOU DON"T KNOW WHAT A CUTIE MARK IS?!"

I put my hooves to my ears in a feeble attempt to block out the painful noise.

Twilight gives Pinkie a stern look "Pinkie! He hit his head pretty hard and can't remember anything before today. And don't shout! He has a really bad headache."

_Is it just me...or did Pinkie's hair deflate? And you might wanna take your own advice Twilight…oh my poor skull…_

Pinkie turns to me "Oh...sorry. A cutie mark is something every colt and filly dreams of getting A.S.A.P. It represents either their special talent or their personality. But mostly it's what separates them from everypony else. The picture that appears on their tushes can be the same but still mean different things. Mine represents my love for throwing awesome parties and making everypony smile."

"But...how can I have a cutie mark? I don't remember anything about myself, let alone my special talent."

Twilight steps forward "I think I may have the answer to that. You most likely had your cutie mark before you got amnesia; therefore it's only a matter of time before you remember what it is."

"That makes sense, I guess. So is the cutie mark location different for everyone or-"

"Everypony." Rainbow Dash quips in.

"What?"

"The term is everyPONY. And no, it's always on your flank."

Pinkie Pie stomps the floorboards in annoyance "Let's see it already!"

"Sigh...fine." I lift up the sheets, and sure enough, there on my dark gray flank, is a cutie mark.

"Ooh! What is it? Is it a ball going so fast it's on fire? Or how about a torch? Or..."

"I think it's a bolt."

We all look at Twilight, except pinkie who is still spouting suggestions.

"What? That doesn't even look closely like one."

"No, Rainbow Dash. Not a lightning bolt. I'm talking about a crossbow bolt."

_Why does that sound familiar...?_ "What's a crossbow?" I inquire, genuinely curious.

"Hmm...I remember reading about it in a book, but I can't remember what the book was."

At this time, Pinkie stops talking "Ooh! Be right back!" And with that, she runs downstairs and back in half a second. When she returns, she has a book in her mouth, which she tosses to Twilight "Page 372, paragraph 4." Pinkie announces, a huge smile on her face.

_Ok, even by their standards, that can't be normal. What a weird pony...she doesn't seem to sit still for any amount of time. Wonder if she has an off switch..._

"Aha! Here it is."

_Wait, what's happening? Oh, yeah. She's looking for the things description..._

"Bolt: A projectile fired from a contraption known as a crossbow. Used mainly for hunting wild game or for times of war. Invented by a Mr.-"

"Are they fast?"

_What?_

"Huh? Oh, yes they are Rainbow Dash. I don't see...Oh!" Twilight looks at me excitedly "That must be it! You must be a fast flyer!"

I shrug, once again wincing from the pain that my weary body shoots through me in protest. Why do I put myself through such pain? "Could be, but what about the ball of fire the bolt is piercing? That could mean a number of things."

Twilight flips a couple of pages through the book "Hmm...Well it can't symbolize speed, that would be repetitive..." She goes on mumbling to herself.

I turn to look at the other five mares, all of which occupied by other things but still close incase assistance is required. Rarity fretting over the color of the fabric in the room, Fluttershy peeking from behind a potted plant, Rainbow Dash and Applejack talking about some sort of competition, and Pinkie...how hard did I hit my head? Pinkie looks like she's floating as if gravity doesn't apply to her. I lay there, looking at my battered, bloody-bandage wrapped body, trying to fit pieces together.

_Well, might as well think up a name for myself. Don't want anyone calling me 'You' the entire time...Not much I can go by, all I have on me is blood soaked bandages, broken limbs, a strange mark and…wait...that's it._ "...BoltFire."

All heads in the room turn to me, confused by the seemingly random joining of words. Twilight looking annoyed from me breaking her concentration "Huh? What did you say?"

This time, I spoke a little clearer "For my name. BoltFire. Unless someone else has that name already..."

"Well...no. Nopony comes to mind with that name. If that's what you want us to call you, then BoltFire it is." She then closes and puts the book on a table next to the bed.

_Well, at least I have a name now. But...How bad do I look right now? What do I even look like?_

I was about to ask them these questions when I closed my eyes for just a second, and promptly pass out.

* * *

**A/N: Yes, a second authors note. If you've read many a fanfic before coming here (Like I have) then you know what to do at this stage. I hoped you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it! Also, I will update whenever I am finished with the next chapter.**


	2. Chapter 2: Hospitals and Friends

**A/N: Sweet mary mother of christ...I actually got the second chapter up?! Meh, it was way over-due but better late than never, right? And I actually got reviews on my first chapter, which I didn't expect. I thought this would float around for a bit until some random person found it and decided to give it a chance. (Probably did happen like that but unlikely, what with the time of upload in conjunction to the first review) Anyway, I don't own My Little Pony, that holy right belongs to Lauren Faust and Hasbro. I DO however own BoltFire, and any other OC's unless otherwise stated. So, without further adieu, heres the-**

**Random voice:** HIYA!

**Me:** AAAH! (Falls out of chair, clutching my chest)

**Random voice:** Hahaha! Oh celestia, that was funny! I didn't know you scare so easily, Nick!

**Me:** (Slowly gets back up) Wait...P-pinkie?!

**Pinkie:** That's my name! Well, it's actually Pinkamena Dianne Pie but I just like to be called Pinkie pie because its shorter and-**(INTERUPTING MELON!)**mmph?

**Me:** Phew...my aching ears...anyway, why are you here?

**Pinkie:** (Gulps down _whole_ melon) Wow, that was a juicy, thanks! And I'm here cuz I wanted to see what happens up here, kinda dull compared to the stuff the girls and I do. Oh! But you can make ANYTHING happen from here so you're like the **_CREATOR OF ALL BEING! Wow, everything seems so much more interesting when you use these keys!_**

**Me:** Please...Pinkie...I have an overdue chapter I gotta get out...

**Pinkie:** Hmm? Oh yeah, anyway, Bye Bye! (Bounces into a closet)

**Me:**...I'm not even gonna check...Anyway, here's a chapter.

**Chapter 2: Hospitals and Friends**

***BoltFire***

Darkness…yup, back in the endless void. Not as bad as the first visit, but at the very least I know where I am…I think. I know I'm still in a bed, other than that, I don't really care.

_[Oh god, what happened…oh yeah, I passed out…damn it. Hmm…? I can't hear any voices, so I'm guessing they let me get some rest then...]_

Then a noise pierces the darkness, thus catching my attention…

*Beep*

_[…what?]_

*Beep*

_[…what the hell?]_

*Beep*

_[Oh god, that's annoying…Strangely familiar though.]_

*Beep*

_[...Yup, that still and will ALWAYS annoy me. So…I'm guessing I'm not at twilight's house anymore…]_

*Beep*

_[...will you ever shut up? Jeez, it's like a broken re-_

*Beep*

_[...Did you just cut me-]_

*Beep*

_[Hey! Quit i-]_

*Beep*

_[...damn you...]_

*Beep*

_[Sigh…let's try to move again, shall we?]_

*Beep*

Ignoring the noise, I try to move my limbs, starting with my legs. Instead of a shooting pain, I get a dull ache. I'm a little taken aback by this, although I proceed to try my wings, chest, neck, and finally my head. They give about the same amount of pain as the legs.

_[Hmm…Ok. One more time, let's open the eyes. Hopefully it's the last time I have to do this…]_

I open my eyes, sliding the lids up with greater ease than when I first came to. This time I'm not resting in a patch of light, so my vision clears relatively quickly, allowing me to clearly see the room. I had been correct about this being a new room, Twilight's house had woody colored walls (and LOTS of books) while this room's walls were white. Stark white. A quick survey told me that this looked more or less like a hospital room. A couple chairs sitting near a window, a table next to my place of rest, a lamp on top of that, along with a couple magazines. I then address the incessant beeping noise that shall forever irk me; it turns out to be a heart monitor. I shake my head and look down at my body, taking in what I see before me. Underneath a teal green hospital robe there seems to be white gauze wrapping around most of my body, blotches of red are randomly on them. The red blotches indicating the wounds twilight was going on about. Also an IV drip attached to my arm(Foreleg?), the bag containing disinfectant and what I'm guessing to be some form of pain-killer being nearly depleted.

Sighing loudly, I submit to the fact that I will be here for a long while and look around the room to see if there is anything that'll pass the time. I turn to the magazines on the table, thinking they might be interesting. I see that they're some form of gossip magazines, but when I try to read them I find I can't understand any of the words. I put them down and resort to something else almost instinctively, repeatedly clicking the lamp on and off. This loses its appeal rather quickly, making me just lie there with the light off. I then move a hoof up to my head, some red and black strands falling into view.

_[...Hmm? Is that...my hair? Either its naturally like this or its soaked in blood...happy thoughts, huh? ...oh, great. I'm talking to myself now…]_

A knock sounds at the door, startling me a bit. As the door opens, I see a white mare with a pink mane and tail, as well as a nurse's cap on, walk in with some fresh bandages and ointment on top of a cart. She notices me looking at her and smiles "Ah, I see you're awake. How do you feel?"

"I've been better…I think. I'm not sure where I am, but I could guess a hospital. Also, who are you…?"

"Oh, forgive me. I'm Nurse Redheart. I'm surprised you're up so soon, you had some really nasty looking injuries when you came in, worst of all your left-wing."

My mood sinks as I remember what Twilight said "How bad are they? The wounds I mean…"

She trots over to the foot of my bed and looks at a clip board "Well, according to this, you had lacerations covering most of your body, a dislocated right-wing, a shattered left-wing, also fractures along the entire length of your legs, a punctured lung, internal bleeding, a couple broken ribs, and several chipped teeth." Her face changes to shock and horror, changing to sadness as she looks up at me "How in Equestria did you suffer all that and not die?"

_[Equestria…? Looks like there's another thing I can add to my ever-growing list of unfamiliar words…]_ "I'm not sure myself…wait…had?"

"Yes. Had." A new voice says. I look to the door and see a light brown unicorn with a darker shade of brown for his mane walk in. He is wearing a white lab coat and a stethoscope around his neck. "I'm glad to see you're awake, my name is Doctor Stable**(Stable keeps patients stable...meh, it fits.)**. I must say, I was shocked to see you breathing with all those wounds, bleeding out the way you were. We've done all we can to get you back on your hooves, which means all that's left to heal is your wing. That will have to heal on its own, though."

I sigh, seems I've been doing a lot of that lately. The next question forms upon my lips with only mild hesitation "How did I get here?"

"Your friends brought you in here five days ago. We had to put you into a drug-induced coma in order to get your surgery done."

_[Huh, well there goes my next question…wait...friends?]_ I open my mouth to speak, but a growl stops me; causing me to jolt in place.

Nurse Redheart looks at my stomach and giggles "Well, somepony is a little impatient."

Doctor Stable chuckles, while irritation finds its way to my face; a blush following it shortly after "Hey, it's not my fault; I haven't eaten in almost a week!"

He lets out a bark of laughter at my expense "Be that as it may, you're up now so we should get you something to eat. Nurse Redheart, if you would be so kind."

"Of course, Doctor." And with that, she trots out of the room, leaving me with Doctor Stable. After she leaves, he and I talk for a bit, mostly about when I'm due to leave. A couple more days he had told me as well as to stay off my wing for a while, it looked like he had more to say, but he was called out by another nurse. He said he'd return to check up on me when he could get the chance, my only response to that being to nod while I waited for Nurse Redheart to return with food to appease the demon within me. Neither I nor the demon had to wait long; Nurse Redheart chose to walk in at that time pushing what looked like the same cart as before, but this one has a tray of food on it. She places the tray on my lap, to which I examine the...contents of. No shape that comes to mind could describe the sheer amorphisity (Is that even a word?)of the "food" upon the tray.

_[Um...where did this lab experiment crawl from? It looks like it was smashed with a hammer after being regurgitated and then squeezed through one of those icing dispensers...I guess I can't be very picky right now, though. Food is food, at least it SMELLS edible...wait...did it move?!]_

With this resolve in mind and a silent prayer to nothing and no one in particular, I take a bite of the, for lack of a better word, gloop. At first, I expected to taste something foul, burning its way down my throat. In reality, however, the stuff wasn't half bad. Sure, it was a little bland, but I think that's just to make sure I don't go into sensory overload, being my first meal in five days. Slightly sweet, and a little bitter, could be mashed apples with some crushed medicine stirred into the mix. With the demon's hunger quelled and a content sigh escaping my lips, I close my eyes and drift into the void within my mind.

***Third Person P.O.V.***

The halls of the castle creak and moan to ever-so-slight shifts in its balance. No sounds are made besides the mice skittering here and there, looking for scraps. Guards are posted at the ends and beginnings of every hall, bored out of their minds. Outside of these silent halls, clouds from the recent storm cast a gloomy mood upon most of its inhabitance.

In a room known only by a select few, two beings sit across from each other, an orb of light floating in between them. In the orb shown was an image of BoltFire in his hospital bed. The smaller of the two cocks an eyebrow at the taller one "That entrance of his seemed a tad unnecessary, sister. Why did you have to make it so damaging?"

The elder looked at the younger with a small frown and a tilt of her head "Why do you even need to ask that? You remember what happened to the last one that we brought here with its memory still intact, right?"

The younger shudders from the memory, obviously she hadn't forgotten "But couldn't you have just wiped his memory clean during his travel? Breaking him to that extent seems a little excessive to me."

The elder pouts looking at her younger sister "Ah, but where is the fun in that, lu-lu?"

A vein in the younger's forehead twitches "Tch, stop calling me lu-lu, Celestia! I'm not a foal anymore, I only allowed you to call me that after I got back from imprisonment on the moon, but now it seems a little degrading. And don't you dare call me 'Woona'…only lil' Pip can call me that…" she grumbles the last bit to herself. **(Then why did you bring it up...?)**

Celestia gets _**the**_ biggest shit-eating grin and puts on a kissy face "Aww, is lil' Luna in love?"

Woona **(*Gets hit in head by random objects* OW! Okay…fine.)** Luna **(There, Happy? Damned harpy…*Dodges books* HA *Whap* …ow) **puts on a blank expression; accompanied by the ever persistent blush-of-screwing-up-your-perfect-poker-face "Thou shall cease thy incisive prodding into mine personal life. Who we like is completely up to us and none of thy concern."

Celestia raises an eyebrow, mocking Luna with a self-satisfied smile "Oh-ho-ho! Resorting to 'ye olden Canterlot speak' are we? I think I may have struck a nerve~."

Luna lets out an exasperated sigh, now knowing why the guards call her 'Trollestia' every now and then. She clears her head before looking back at the master troll "Were getting off topic here. Besides, we are talking about him, not me." She says, waving a hoof towards the scene in the ball.

Celestia pouts; upset that her fun has been do-...halved "Aw, you're no fun! Ugh, fine. I already have everything in place when he leaves the hospital, so there are no worries there. Gah, where's the fun, prank loving little sister of mine now a days?"

Luna's eye twitches. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. Upon exhaling, she looks Celestia in the eyes "We are both the rulers of this great land, shouldn't we at least act like that around the nobles and in serious situations?"

Celestia lets out an exaggerated sigh, rolling her eyes with the gesture "Fiiiiinnnneeee…jeez, we'll be serious for now, but I wanna prank ponies with you afterwards!"

Luna can only shake her head in accepting the fact that, even though she was younger than Celestia, that she was more mature than her. Guess a thousand years without her younger sister does that to a pony. She then turns her attention back to the orb and sees the door to BoltFire's room open.

***BoltFire***

…Floating through the voids of my mind. The Darkness ever-present in my subconscious. No matter where I looked, nothing was there to molest the inky blackness...well, not inky, more like ground-up graphite.

Staring into its dismal depths, I sigh in content. That feeling of content soon replaced by confusion and a question. _[Why do I feel…warm? Shouldn't I be freezing…? When looking into this…why do I feel…safe?]_

This Darkness, now that I actually try to focus on it, isn't trying to swallow me. In fact, I'd say it was…cradling me. Caressing me, as if I were something precious that could easily be corrupted or shattered. Like I was…important to it, somehow. Upon coming to this conclusion, the Darkness begins to bring up different emotions in me.

_[Hmm…? What's this feeling? Why does my core feel warm...?]_

"...o you think he'll wake up? The Doctor said he woke up yesterday, so I wager he has recuperated quite nicely."

_[...Huh? That sounded like...um...what was her name...oh yeah, Rarity.]_

"Hmm...I'd say he'll wake up soon, though I can't say when. Well, no matter how long it takes, we'll be here for a while. I got some reading to catch up on in the meantime."

_[Books...that must be Twilight.]_

"Oh, that reminds me. Is the new 'Daring Do' book in yet, Twi? I already read through the others."

_[Um...Dash? Huh, didn't think she'd be into books. Wait, how many of the girls are in this room?]_

"Ooh! Let's throw a party for him when he wakes up. It'll be called the _'Congratulations for avoiding death and welcome to ponyville'_ party!"

_[Parties(Cubed)__ - Off switch + Physics Defiance(Squared) __= Pinkie Pie…ow, too much math.]_

"Heh, he'll hafta get outa here first, sugarcube. I reckon he won't be able to walk fer awhile, though."

_[That accent...that nickname...definitely Applejack]_

"Oh my, he must be hurting a lot, then..."

_[Fluttershy...you have no idea how right you are. So they're all here, huh? Eh...might as well see them through clear eyes.]_

I shift slightly in bed, eliciting gasps from most of them. As I open my eyes, the very first thing I notice is a large purple eye...staring at me.

_[What the...what is this...? I don't even...]_ "Um..."

"..." The only response I get is the eye closing and opening, all the while staring at me.

The girls start snickering, Pinkie Pie looking about ready to explode from holding in her laughter. I look around the room, confused as ever. Mentally shrugging, I turn back to the eye only to have my vision suddenly go black.

"What the hell?! Why can't I see?!"

My voice comes out slightly muffled and I think some, if not all, of the girls fell to the floor…laughing. I bring my hooves up to my face, but feel something latched onto it. Grabbing hold of it, I pull slightly and am rewarded with the thing coming off with a wet popping noise. Wiping my face from some liquid, I then appraise the thing in my hooves. Before me is a scaly green lizard with the large purple eyes from earlier. Being roughly as big as my head, the thing looks like it could easily clamp onto my face. The lizard opens its mouth as if to confirm my suspicions. However, when it does, I notice the thing has no teeth.

"Uh…"

The lizard only blinks.

Getting over her laughing fits, Pinkie takes the lizard from my grasp "He-he, sorry about that. It was just too funny to pass up. I see you've met Gummi."

_[Gummi...? That name makes as much sense for this thing as Pinkie pie is for a pink mare...which is alot.] _"So...why was he starring at me...?"

Pinkie put Gummi on her cotton-candy like hair, to which he immediately clamps onto "Oh, he just likes meeting new ponies. Don'tcha Gummi?"

A blink is his only response...creepy after a while.

This...response leaves a noticably uncomfortable silence between all eight of us (Gummi included). When someone does break the silence, we're all alittle shocked to see who it is. (Gummi excluded)

"Um...so...are you feeling any better...? Oh! um...if its okay with you to tell us..." Fluttershy squeaks out.

_[Wow...that has got to be the cutest voice I've heard so far...Why do I not want anything bad to happen to her? Oh yeah, she's Fluttershy. She's just too kind and innocent for anything bad to happen to her.] _"Um...yeah, I'm feeling alot better. Almost no pain, but that might be because of the medication they have me on..." I trail off as a thought occurs to me. Have they been checking up on me this entire time? If so, then why would they do that for me? They only just met me. Looking at all of them, I voiced my concerns.

Applejack speaks first "Well, sure we 'ave. What, ya think we 'as jus' gonna drop ya off an' ferget 'bout cha? Ain't no way any of us coulda done that, sugarcube."

Rarity speaks next "Too true, and it doesn't matter if we only just met or not. What matters is that we wanted to help you out in your time of need and did just that."

Twilight soon follows "We all were worried about you, we didn't want to see a pony die. Sure we could have walked away, but we decided to help in any way we could."

Aaaaaand, cue Rainbow "Yeah! Besides, if you kicked the bucket, I'd never find out which one of us is faster!" _[wow...thanks for worrying about my self and not my wings...oh! That look twilights giving is terrifying!...I'm scared...]_

Pinkie decided to board this train as well "Yup yup! And it's been too long since I last threw a party! So I had to make sure the guest of honor would be able to make it!"

Fluttershy doesn't say anything, just smiles and nods. Agreeing with the others whole-heartedly.

Looking at the six mares...no, my six friends...I start to get a little misty-eyed.

_[I'm a complete stranger to them, and they go out of their way to make sure I get the help I need? I...they...(sniff) I don't know what to say...]_

My emotions must have shown in expressions, because the next thing I know, I'm caught in the middle of a group hug. No one said anything, but, really, what was there to say? The hug lasted for about a minute, after which, they started saying their goodbyes, saying they have work in the morning and they'll be back when they can. The last two to leave were Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, I was about to ask if they had work as well when they gave me one last parting hug. They left without a word and, for some reason, my face felt hot. I felt a little dizzy as well and decided I needed some rest. Right before I drifted off into a dreamless sleep, my last thought was of how great things turned out, all things considered.

* * *

**A/N: Well, there we have it. The second chapter to TCBTS. Thank you for reading and, as always, comment if you want and like if you feel. I'll try to get more chapters out than in the past.**

**Today's song of choice has been ****'Hell for Frandle' By BubbleRecords. Don't ask, I just like feeling psychotic sometimes...Anyway...adios!**


	3. Chapter 3: Release and a Tour

**A/N: Hey all, DJ F4RN5W0R7H here. Just lettin' ya'll know that I'm here to stay and to cover a couple of things before the chapter. First off, my school is retarded and sometimes blocks this site because it's apparently "R-rated". While I can understand that it would be the case, I'm in fucking high-school, not elementary. I'm 18, I could give two shits if it's rated R or not. Secondly, I'll try for a chapter a week per story. So, seeing as I have two stories out, I'm looking to do a chapter each. May change it if I get five stories out, but that's future Nick's problem, not mine. So, without further adieu, here's the chap-**

**Voice A:** _OBJECTION!_

**Me:** Dafuq?! *Falls out of chair...again*

**Voice B:** _HOLD IT!_

**Me:** Who the hell is that? *Picks self up*

**Voice C:** Hee-hee! It still cracks me up at how scared you can get Nick!

**Me:** Wait...don't tell me...ah shit...

**Voice A,B,C:** YUP! It's an intervention!

**Me:** Hold on...BoltFire?! ...Shadow?! and...god dammit Pinkie...

**All three:** Yup yup!

**Me:** ...what the hell are you three doing here? Two of you should be back in Ponyville.

**BoltFire:** Well, we needed to talk to you...

**Shadow:** ...But we couldn't get to you...

**Pinkie:** So they called me and I broke the fourth wall to make it happen!

**Me:** ooooookay...But why...?

**BoltFire:** Dude, you need to stop changing your pen-name. It gets people confused, and seriously, DJ F4RN5W0R7H? Did you just get lazy and chose to combine your name with leet to make it look cool(ish).

**Me:** Hey! I worked long and hard on that!

*Snickering comes from Pinkie and BoltFire*

**Shadow:** Su~re...10 seconds is such a long time...But seriously, change it one last time, but actually _think_ about what it's going to be.

**Pinkie:** Yeh! Like, look deeeep inside yourself *giggle* for the answer. Look at your likes and dislikes, and find a suitable combination!

**Me:** ...Fi~ne...I'll try...but since you guys are here, you get to help me out.

**BoltFire/Shadow:** Hey! Why do we have to help? and what about Pinkie?! She's here too!

**Me: **Well,I didn't create her. Also, you guys came from _my head_. So you know as much about me as I do myself.

*Both groan before agreeing*

**Me:** Pinkie, make yourself at home for the time being, this'll take a while...

**Pinkie:** Okey Dokey Lokey!

**(Several hours, two fights, and a gerbil race later)**

**Me:** HA! Mine won fair and square, now pay up you two!

*Groaning and digging in pockets for bits/poke'*

**Pinkie:** *Eating popcorn* Soooo...think of a name yet?

*All three of us stare at her then face palm/hoof/paw at once*

**Me:** ...Any preferences?

**BoltFire/Shadow:** *Looks at each other, then at me* Nothing stupid.

**Me:** Alright...how about 'Dark-wings the kind'?

**BoltFire/Shadow:** ...meh. It'll do.

**Me:** ...you guys are assholes, you know that?

**BoltFire:** Well, we _did_ come from your head.

**Me:** ...touche'.

**Pinkie:** Well, mission accomplished. Also, it didn't matter what you called yourself, we'll still call you Nick, so...Bye Bye!

*aaaaaand they're gone*

**Me:** ...dammit Pinkie...oh well, onto the story I guess.

**Disclaimer: I do not own My Little Pony or Ace Attorney. They belong to their respective owners. I DO however own BoltFire, Shadow and any other OC unless otherwise mentioned.**

**Chapter 3: Release and a Tour**

***BoltFire***

After I awoke to find the girls visiting me, the days were rather dull and mostly the same. Sure there was rehab, but, other than that, all I did was rest and gather my strength, so the weeks went by as a blur. Today was the day I would be released from the hospital and actually take my first steps into the world...well, first remembered steps...anyway, before I left, the doctors had to perform a psychiatric evaluation just to see if the meteor (still can't believe I survived that) had knocked more than just my memory out of my head. In the end, they figured the amnesia only took memories of my life and not general knowledge. Sure there was some strange dialogue choice, from their point of view, but all in all, I passed and they handed me a release form.

Now, this was the biggest challenge I had to face so far, trying to figure out how to write with hooves. After failing, then succeeding, to sign out, I walked to the entrance where my friends and Spike were waiting for me.

AppleJack steps forward "Ya'll ready, sugarcube?"

I nod, not finding any vocalization necessary.

Pinkie starts hopping up and down "Yay! We get to finally show you around town! Come on, Let's go go go!"

We all chuckle at her antics and head out the double doors into the world beyond.

At first I'm blinded by the light from the sun, but my eyes adjust after a bit. What I see before me takes my breath away. To my left are rolling green hills with trees every here and there, to my right is a forest that looks more like an impenetrable wall of foliage than anything else(although there is a path leading into the forest), a winding dirt path leading to what could only be Ponyville, and a far away mountain with what looks like a castle jutting out the side. All in all, it was the most beautiful thing I've seen in all of my short memory.

Looking at my friends smiling faces on either side of me, I smile in return and we head towards Ponyville.

***Luna***

I don't know how she did it, but she did. Celestia, my elder sister, has turned into a filly. Normally, I would be elated at the thought of being the older sister, however, she made me soon regret that.

"For Faust's sake, Celestia! Get down from there this instant!" I'm looking up at my sister as she's sitting on top of one of the arches in the throne room, bombarding me with water balloons from a bucket. I would use magic to get her down, but she apparently used magic to nullify magic in this room. Thus resulting in the use of verbal commands.

She stops her assault and sticks her tongue out at me "No way, shishter! I don't wanna. Beshidesh, it'sh much more fun thish way!"

If I wasn't so irritatted, this would be adorable. However, I was irritated and wanted her to stop messing around. "Get down here and act your age!"

She tilts her head and gives me a puzzled look "But I am, shishter.(Her eyes start to tear up) I get it, you don't wanna pway with me anymore..."

And now I start to feel bad. _[__Dammit all! She found my one weakness, crying children.]_

I soften my tone and speak to her gently "Thats not it, dearest sister. I do want to play with you. It's just...we have things to do, a country to rule, and a certain pegasus to keep eyes on. Mabye later we can play, but right now we have work to do."

She rubs her eyes and, with a sniff, questions me "Really? You pwomish?"

I nod, then decide to use something I never thought I would ever have to "Cross my heart and hope to fly, Stick a cupcake in my eye." I cross my heart then make a motion to poke my eye, but don't really do it. Experience taught me not to actually do that.

Her eyes no longer watering, a smile spreads on her face. Without even warning me, she leaps off and, mid-fall, decides to say something "Catch me, Woona!"

Not expecting the sudden movement, I barely had enough time to brace myself for the sudden impact. We land in a heap with her on top, giggling madly, with me chuckling after a bit.

Suddenly, little Celestia poofs off me and reappears next to me as her full-grown self...struggling to hold in a laugh. It takes me a couple of seconds to figure out what just happened, but I end up chasing my sister through the halls of the castle, me shouting obscenities and her laughing hysterically. The entire time I was trying to catch my trolling sister, I didn't notice the board that said **'Trollestia - 63, Woona - 18'** in the guards quarters, nor did I hear their insane laughter.

***BoltFire***

The girls took me through a tour of the town, starting with a quaint little cottage next to the forest...surrounded by animals. I learned that this is where Fluttershy lives and does her work. She explains several things, like how sometimes the local veterinary clinic sends her some animal to take care of, because they don't have enough room or how zoos send her some animals for safe keeping until they finish with renovations or moving large equipment. I was amazed at first, then a thought struck me.

_[Wait...doesn't anyone else help her out? She can't be the only one who takes care of all these animals.]_

I voice my concerns and she smiles before replying "No, I'm alone to care for them, but I don't mind. I enjoy it too much to consider it work. It's my special talent, after all."

After that we head over to what can only be described as a sea of apple-trees. Seriously, apple-trees as far as the eye can see. After my initial shock, we come across a path that leads towards a farm-house with a barn behind it. Fields for growing crops to the left of the barn. A sign post next to the path, decorated with what looks like a silhouette of Applejack rearing up. Words below indicate the property as **'Sweet Apple Acres'**.

_[Don't tell me...Applejack lives here...]_

As if waiting for me to have that thought, the mare in question wraps a hoof around my neck "So, what do ya think, sugarcube? Beautiful ain't it?"

I nod, finding no words to do this place justice.

After that, we went to Rainbow's house. At first, I thought it a bit strange, then we got to a spot underneath it. That's right, _underneath_ it. Floating above me, with rainbows coming down like waterfalls then evaporating half way down, was Rainbow's house. I just stood there, not a single coherent thought going through my fried brain. She just hovered there, basking in the glow of my amazement.

Then we go to what I thought was a giant desert fit for a...well...giant. Pinkie just giggles at my expression "This is Sugarcube Corner, the best bakery in town. You can find anything from donuts, to crepes, mouse, cakes, pies, keesh..." She continues on and on about all the things one can find in there...all on one breath. She finally stops when she remembers she has to do something and darts into a bush. Checking the bush reveals no Pinkie and confuses all of us. My friends just shrug it off, but I'm stuck there, confused and perturbed out of my mind.

Next came Carousel Boutique, the home and workplace of miss Rarity. Compared to the other stores I've seen around town, this one was the most normal. Sure it was shaped loosely off a carousel, and sure, the colors were a little gaudy, but that's all. No giant cupcake on top, no strange shapes attached at weird places, nothing unusual other than the colors. Like the others, except Pinkie and Applejack, she works alone. I asked her the same thing as Fluttershy and she gives roughly the same response.

Then we come to the Ponyville library. I take one look at the "building" and immediately start chuckling at the irony. The library was made inside of a tree. Books are made from paper. Paper is made from trees. And there are books inside the library, which is a tree. Twilight looks a little upset at my laughing and asks what was so funny. I tell her of the irony of it all and she giggles in response.

By this time, it was getting pretty late. I thought the others were going to be heading home but instead don't move. I raise an eyebrow "Don't you all need to be home?"

The mares just shake their heads and motion towards the library. I look between them and the tree for a bit before shrugging and open the door. Inside the building, I notice it's too dark to see anything. I take two steps and the lights randomly come on, followed by a massive shout that knocks me on my back "SURPRISE!"

While I lay on the floor, trying to make my heart go to its normal speed, Pinkie comes into my field of vision with a huge grin on her face. "Were you surprised? You were surprised weren't ya? Well if you weren't surprised before then SURPRISE!"

The shock (and terror...hey, I wasn't expecting it and almost had a heart attack) leaves me after a minute and I take look around the library. There were streamers crisscrossing above our heads, balloons attached to foldable tables, a bowl of punch with additives next to it (one looking suspiciously like hot sauce), and ponies all around me. Ponies of all sizes, shapes, race and colors looking at me with smiles on their faces.

I get up and start to feel a little apprehensive. I open my mouth to say something to the expectant crowd, but no words come out. I wet my mouth a little and try again, this time uttering barely two words "Uh...hi?"

The ponies laugh and, one by one, come forward and introduce themselves. About halfway through, a gray pegasus mare approaches me "Hi! The name's Derpy Hooves! I'm the mailmare around here."

_[Holy...eyes!] _"Um...hi, I'm BoltFire. I'm...uh...new around here."

She giggles a bit "I kinda figured, what with this party and all...hmm? why are you looking at me like tha-oh! right, the eyes. They look weird don't they..."

She begins to look depressed at the end of that, to which I immediately reply "N-no! Not at all! I was just curious how you can walk so well with your eyes all..."

"Derped?"

"Guh...no...I was gonna say crossed. And why would I make fun of your eyes in the first place?"

A sad smile appears on her face "Thanks, they only sometimes go like this, but it does make walking and flying a little harder to do without crashing into ponies or objects. It's just that...I've had to deal with a lot of bullying in my life because of my eyes, so I kinda assume ponies are going to make fun of me."

I get angry at the thought of others bullying someone just because they're a bit different, making my next sentence frighten her a little "That's no excuse! Just because someone is a little different doesn't mean its alright to pick on them because of it! Anyone who does bully for that reason shouldn't even be allowed to see the light of day!" I pause to catch my breath and to make sure not to scare her anymore "...If anyone makes fun of you for your eyes, or any other reason, come find me. I'll make sure they don't do it anymore."

She just stands there, not believing the words I said. She then sees my face, how it hasn't changed from my determined scowl and realizes I'm being wholefully honest with her. Both of her eyes focus on me as they start to tear up. I see this and wrap my hooves around her shoulders, she returning the hug almost immediately and starts to quietly sob into my shoulder.

After a couple of minutes, her sobs stop, and we release each other. She mouthed the words "Thank you" and went back into the crowd. The rest of the night was about the same as before Derpy talked to me, until it was time for all the others (Besides my group of friends) to leave. After everyone filed out of the room, I noticed that Derpy stayed behind. I was about to ask her what was wrong when she does something I didn't expect. She leans forward, closes her eyes, and kisses me. I stand there, stunned at the sudden movement, my six friends having similar reactions. Before I can say anything, she rushes out of the tree-house (Ha, it now has multiple meanings) and into the night, leaving me and my friends with unanswered questions.

They recover before I do and head off into the directions of their respective homes, saying they have to get up early for work. I just continue to stand there, stareing at the open door, until twilight closes it with magic. I snap out of my trance and follow her to the guest room, where I had first awoke. As I lay in my bed, I can't stop thinking about Derpy's reasons for kissing me. It must have been difficult for her all those years, with the constant bullying and no one to turn to. Sleep soon took me, but not before I made a promise. I promised to let nothing harm her, or any of my friends, for as long as I lived.

* * *

**A/N: Holy Hera on a ferris wheel! Third chapter and going stron****g! Hope you all liked the chapter like I did...you know what to do at this point. Until next time, readers.**


	4. Chapter 4: Lessons and Goodies

**A/N: Well, Chapter 4 and still no reviews other than the first two on chapter 1. It makes me feel like no one cares but then I look at the traffic stats and see a lot of people have read it. Could it be that no-one cares enough to review? Or maybe they haven't found anything wrong with the fic so far, thus rendering the need to comment nul and void...by celestia's beard I hope it's the second. Since this fic is just in the first decade of chapters, I could use any and all suggestions you readers have to offer, as well as any OC's you want to put in. If I find some that'll go with the story and situations within said story, I'll put them in. Also, It has come to my attention that there has been wagering going on between a few individuals over who will fall for who. Do note that the inside of my head is like a playground for Discord, so I may or may not go for the original pairings I had in store. I'm just mulling it over right now, but there may be a herd and there may be relationships that normally wouldn't work...wow, long author's note is long. Now, onto the story!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own My Little Pony, or anything that I make reference to in this FanFic, those belong to their respective owners. I do own BoltFire and any other OC's that appear unless otherwise mentioned.**

**Chapter 4: Lessons and Goodies**

***BoltFire***

You know the feeling where you know you have to get up, but part of your brain revolts against you and keeps your eyes closed? Yeah, well I'm currently in the middle of a revolution/civil war. I know it's morning, and I know I have to get up, but my brain wants me to stay asleep. Normally I would listen to 'that which is cradled within my skull', but today was a big day for me, and I didn't want to miss it. I start to get out of bed with my body protesting all the way. About half-way out, I slip and land on the floor.

_[Ow...well, at least I'm up now.]_

**Brain - 0, Me - 1**

After picking myself off the floor and proclaiming victory over my brain, I begin to experience the tell-tale signs of nature calling. Still half-asleep but having the decency to not wake up others, I walk towards a random door. As soon as I open the door, I'm assaulted by all sorts of things. I freak out and start fighting against the things...up until I hear a cough behind me. Slowly, I turn my head from my downed position to see Spike, staring at me like I'm crazy. I understand why he looked at me like that when I turned to the things that attacked me. In my half asleep state, I ended up opening the broom closet. Putting the brooms back in the closet while cursing at my own stupidity, I ask him where the bathroom is. "Dude, it's three doors down that way" he says, pointing to the left of the broom closet. "Thanks." and with that, I saunter off to the porcelain throne within this fortress of knowledge.

The bathroom is pretty standard, having all the necessities but not much else in the way of personal comfort. The appliances were all white, the walls being a light blue, grey in between the white tiles on the floor, dark wood cabinets, and...why does the toilet have a rug on the lid?

Shaking my head, I get down to business, and let me tell you, business is good! ...anyway, as I wash my hooves, I realise that I haven't had a good look at myself at all since I came to. I look up to the mirror, and see a dark grey pegasus staring back. His eyes a deep crimson, his hair kind of checker-boarding with red and black but only with four squares, the length of which going a little past his neck, small scars here and there but those are only noticable if one looks rather closely.

As I continue to examine myself, I don't notice the door opening. It's only until I hear clopping**(Begone, dirty minded beings! This is not the chapter for you to be in! That comes later...)** that I realize someone entered.

"Oh! Sorry, I didn't know anypony was using this."

I turn around and see Twilight. I shake my head "It's alright, I was just looking at myself in the mirror...wow that sounded shallow."

She giggles "Yes it did, but I understand why. Anyway, there are apples down stairs if you want some. I already ate."

I nod my head in thanks and head out to the lower levels, giving her privacy. Now, onto why this was a big day. Today was decided to be flight training (by who, I don't know. Probably Twilight.) with Rainbow and Fluttershy. I turn into the kitchen and grab a couple of apples to eat. After I finish, I start to head out the door, but I'm stopped when Twilight calls me. "Oh, Bolt! Hold on for a second."

I wait there, half way out the door, when Twilight comes downstairs with a bag levitating in front of her.

She gives me the bag "This is for you, Rarity made it and we all put something inside it."

I look at the brown bag in my hooves and notice an insignia etched on both sides. I focus on it and see my cutie mark slightly shining at me.

_[Hmm, Rarity must have used silk for the mark.]_

I open one side of the bag...well, more like two bags attatched to straps, but you know what I mean. Anyway, I inside the first portion, I see three things, which I take out one by one. The first Item being a book on equestrian history.

_[It's obvious which one of them put that in here.]_

I place it back in and pull out the next item of interest. This being a bag of apples with, you guessed it, an apple printed on the front. I chuckle and then take the next item out of my new bag. This next thing being a can. At first, it confuses me, but then I see an arrow wrapping around the side. Following the only instruction on the can, I twist the top and various colored snakes shoot out in different directions.

"EEEEK!"

I look around, but I can't find Twilight anywhere. That is, until I look up. I laugh a little and look inside the can to see if there's anything else in there. To my surprise, there is. Inside is a note with extra paper attached to it.

_"He-He! Did that startle you? I hope so, but not too much. All in good fun, right? Anyway, before I go off on a tangent, or whatever Twilight calls it, which reminds me, can you tell her she can get down now? Anyway, attached to this note are two coupons for Sugarcube Corner that employees get to give to friends or family. So stop by whenever you can, okay? - Pinkie Pie"_

Looking at the coupons indicates that they're good for one free item under ten bits. I turn to Twilight to ask her what bits are, when I remember she's still on the ceiling.

"Twilight, its alright, the snakes are fake. You can come down now."

She slowly gets down without taking her eyes off the springy demons, worried they may come alive and chase her. I just shake my head "Anyway, what are bits?"

She looks away from the slinky ones and looks at me like I'm stupid, until she remembers that I have amnesia...come to think of it, that's the second time she's done this "Look in the other pouch and you'll find out."

Taking her advice, I open the other side of my bag and view its contents. The first thing I see is a pair of goggles. They're black with a line of red around the lenses and a red stripe on the strap. Attached to it is a card with a cloud firing a rainbow-colored lighting bolt from the bottom of it.

_"Hey Bolt. These are new flight goggles, you know, to replace any if you had them during the crash. The lenses on these babies'll help you see better in just about any weather, and practically nothing can stick to them. I've had my pair go through just about everything and they still act good as new! Anyway, you might not need them for your first lesson, but bring 'em just in case. - Dash" _

A small smile graces my features, I slip my head through the strap and let them hang off my neck. I then continue looking within my bag. The next gift is an animal catalogue, showing various animals for sale in certain locations and their prices. As well as the amount of care and food each need.

_[Heh, this must've been from Fluttershy. I don't know if I'll get a pet anytime soon, but at least the option is there.] _

I then notice a pouch near the bottom of the bag. Curious, I lift up and here a clinking noise coming from inside. Opening the sack shows about fifty gold coins, all with a sun on one side and a crescent moon on the other.

_[I guess these are the bits Twilight was talking about.]_

And as if answering my thoughts, she confirms it "Those are bits, you know, equestrian currency. The girls and I thought you'd want some money to start out with before you find a job. That way you won't starve when you get your own place. So, while you were in the hospital, we set aside some money from our jobs to help out. There was more, but we had to pay for your hospital bills, seeing as how you didn't have any bits on you and we were the ones who put you in there."

I stood there, stunned for what seemed like a good while but in reality was only a couple of seconds.

_[They went out of their way and set aside money for me? But they barely know me...then again, back in the hospital room, they did say that they didn't care if we just met, and that they wanted to help me...but...how..? How did I manage to make such great friends so quickly?]_

I surprise Twilight by pulling her into a hug, a small sound escaping her when I do "Eep!"

A couple of seconds later she hugs back. She started to say something but I interrupted "Thanks...for all you and the others've done." I pull away and look at her with a small smile on my face. She blinks twice then smiles as well.

"You're welcome, Bolt. Now you might want to head towards the park. Don't want to keep Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy waiting, huh? "

"Heh, guess you're right. Well, I'm off."

After we say goodbye, I put my bag on and start heading in the direction I believe the park is in. I walk around for about ten minutes and realize I have no idea where I'm going. I turn to ask someone directions when I see a familiar face in what most likely is a food market. She doesn't seem to have noticed me yet, so I decided to call out to her "Hey, Applejack!"

She turns her head left and right till she spots me, a grin making its presence known.

"Well howdy, Bolt. What brings ya all the way up here? Shouldn't ya be at the park with Rainbow 'n Fluttershy?"

I rub the back of my head in embarrassment "That's just it. I kinda don't know where to go."

"He-he, really? Well why didn't ya'll say so? Just head towards town hall and take a right, ya can't miss it."

I nod "Thanks Applejack, oh! Also, thanks for the gift."

"Heh, no problem. Later, Bolt. An' don't be a stranger, ya hear?"

"Alright, thanks again!"

I head off in the right direction and run into two more of my friends after about five minutes...well, I ran into one but got tackled by another.

"Hi, Bolty!" _[Bolty?]_ "How ya doing? Did you like my gift? Was Twilight scared? What happened? Did you see the snakes? Speaking of which, I need to go get them before they scare Twilight again. For some reason they don't seem to like to stay in one place for too long...I wonder if Twilight freaked out yet? They should have moved by now...

**Meanwhile...at Twilights**

Spike walks into the main room of the library and looks at Twilight. "Hey Twilight, why is there spring snakes all over the place?"

"Oh, that was just Pinkie's gift to Bolt. Well, it was actually a prank, but there was more to her gift."

"Ah...but where did he open the gift?"

She tilts her head in confusion "Down here, why?"

He points up stairs "I found some in your bed."

She pales a bit "But...that's not possible. I'm sure I had that door closed when he opened the can...are you sure you didn't move some?"

"I'm sure! Why would I do that? I just woke up and..." Spikes eyes then grow wide as he looks behind Twilight "Um...Twi? Were those there before I walked in?"

She turns around only to leap back, her heart beating at a million miles a minute. On a shelf, covering every book and staring at them, are all the snakes from the can. One of them moves forward an inch, but in Twilights mind it leapt at her. She freaks out and rushes upstairs, locking herself in her room and hiding under her blanket. **(Twilight equips Blanket! Blanket adds + 100 to defence!)** After a couple of minutes she calms down and moves under her blanket, only to feel her hoof brush up against one of the demons. She bolts out of her house, screaming the name of the pony responsible for all of this madness "PINKIIIIIIIIIE!"

**Back with us**

"Ah, I'm sure she's fine."

"Um, that's great Pinkie, and I did love the gift, but can you do something for me?"

She tilts her head, the smile still on her face "Sure, what is it?"

"Can you get off me?"

"Oh, tee-hee! Sorry! I tend to get a little excited when I see my friends and everypony in Ponyville's my friend!"

_[A little excited? That's the understatement of the year. Oh well, no harm no foul]_

She gets off and I stand up "It's fine. I was just about to head to the park for some flying lessons, but its nice to run into friends."

I didn't think it possible, but her smile grew even larger than before. Rarity speaks up for the first time since I was tackled "Well, I must say, you look absolutely dashing with that bag on. And those goggles compliment you to such a degree, why, I believe they were made to be worn by you!"

I rub my head in embarrassment for the second time today, a light blush across my face "Really? Thanks Rarity. And thank you for making such a wonderful bag for me. It looks like you used some valuable material to make it. Is there anyway I can repay you?"

She shakes her head, her smile growing bigger "All I ask is that you wear it with pride." She then gets a thoughtful expression on her face "You said it seemed to have been made with valuable material? Well, I'm curious as to what you believe it to be made of."

I look at the bag and think for a bit "Well, the cutie mark seems to be made of either colored silk or satin, possibly charmeuse, the bag itself seems to be a cashmere/crêpe de chine, making it have a nice, soft appearance but also having the durability for day-to-day activity. Same with the straps, though there is a nice double stitch going along the side. Hmm? Something wrong, Rarity?"

Rarity just stares at me with her jaw touching the ground and her eyes the size of dinner plates. Pinkie giggles next me "He-he, I think you broke her."

I nod in agreement then remember I have to be at the park soon "Hey I gotta go, Dash and Fluttershy are probably wondering where I am. Bye Pinkie, Bye Rarity."

"Bye Bolty!"

Rarity was struggling to make words, let alone a coherent sentence. "I...Bu...You...ha...wh...uh..."

I shake my head and chuckle, then I continue on my journey. Nothing eventful happened, so I arrive at my destination after ten minutes. I look at the park and smile at the beauty of it. A dirt path leads into it with benches every fifty feet or so, all leading up to a fountain with more benches surrounding it. Trees spread out all through the park with little ones running around, playing like young ones should. Their games ranging from tag to hide-and-seek, and I think I see three fillies in a box with paper hats on. I take in a breath of fresh air and sigh, feeling calm and serene. Until I hear a shout from above and get tackled to the ground...again.

We skid on the ground for a meter or so, me taking most if not all the punishment the ground had to offer. Sure it stung, but thankfully nothing was broken. Even my bag came out of it without even a tear. I then feel whoever crashed into me move and start to speak "Ohmygosh! I'm so sorry! I lost control while doing a trick and...Bolt?"

I look at the one who spoke and it turns out to be Rainbow...who happened to be sitting on me.

_[Am I really that comfortable that everyone has to sit on me?]_

"Hey, Dash."

A frown replaces her earlier expression "Well its about time you got here! Me and Fluttershy've been waiting all morning for you to get your flank over here!"

I rub my head...again. Jeez, this is a recurring thing with me today, huh? "Well...I kinda got lost and asked Applejack for directions. Then I ran into Pinkie and Rarity, and we talked for a bit, though I think I may have broken her."

She laughs when I say that last part "Really? Dang, wish I walked with you over here then. Oh! I see you're wearing my gift."

I nod "Yeah, by the way, thanks."

Just then, Fluttershy comes into the corner of my vision "Oh my, are you two okay?"

Rainbow nods "Yeah, we're fine. Just a bit dazed."

I then decide to speak up "Although one of us is having a little trouble breathing."

Dash looks at me confused then realizes what I mean. She gets off me while apologizing "Heh, sorry. I guess I didn't notice I was sitting on you cuz it was so comfortable."

_[And that confirms my theory.]_

I get up and wipe some dirt off my body with my wings, they're surprisingly dextrous "It's fine, and I kinda figured that already when Pinkie tackled me earlier."

The mares giggle and Dash speaks up "Yeah, she does that to everypony. Now, you ready to learn how to fly?"

I nod and wait for her to continue "Now, to learn how to fly, there are various methods. The first is trial and error. You basically crash until you figure it out on your own, but that tends to get ya sent to the hospital and we don't want that, now do we?"

I chuckle and shake my head, I already had enough of that place for a while. Fluttershy continues where Dash left off at "Another way is to find inspiration for your flying. Though we would have to push you off a cliff over a lake for it to be effective...and you might get hurt and sent to the hospital."

_[Did...Fluttershy just say that? Jeez, when I heard her say it, I thought it was a good idea. But once I start thinking about what she said...yeah, no. Next.]_

Rainbow continues "Then there's my personal favorite. You basically fly as fast as you can for as long as you can, but that's a little hard if you don't know what to do."

Fluttershy nods and finishes "Then there's the gentle approach, where me and Rainbow will take turns teaching you. I'll teach you the basics and she will teach you how to gain speed and how to control it."

I almost instantly picked the last one, though I caught myself and made it seem I had to think about it "I'll take the last one. Better to be safe than to be sorry, right?"

Fluttershy nods, but Dash seems a little peeved. Her expression softens after a bit "I guess...You have been in the hospital for a while...Fine. Fluttershy, he's yours for now. Send him my way when he's ready, alright?"

Before she can answer Rainbow flew off onto a cloud above us, most likely going to nap while we're down here.

I turn to Fluttershy and wait. She fidgets a little and speaks rather quietly. Not to the point where I can't hear it, but still pretty quiet "W-w-well...T-the first thing you need to d-do is...um...open up your wings."

I nod and look at my wings, opening them up to their full length. I notice that they're slightly longer in comparison to Fluttershy and Rainbow's wings. Proportionally, not size wise. "Ok, what now?"

Sheshifts around some more, guess she doesn't like being the center of attention "Um...well...now j-just flap them till you hover."

I do so, but I don't lift off. I flap a little harder and actually rise in the air a few inches. I flap harder and rise a good foot and a half off the ground. I let out a woop of excitment but forget that I have to keep flapping. I fall on my face, and oddly hear laughter coming from above. Guess Rainbow decided to watch. I get up and turn to Fluttershy, who has a smile on her face "That was good. Normally fillies and colts take more trys but your not a colt anymore, hmm? Just keep doing that and you'll be fine. Now next is..."

We continue for the remainder of the day, and after a couple hours, I can fly pretty well. Sure I can't go fast like Rainbow, but at least I can stay in the air for more than a few seconds.

Rainbow comes down from her cloud "You did pretty good for your first time, but ya probably already had it in ya. What did Twilight call it? Muscle memory or something like that? Anyway, tomorrow you got me as a teacher, so prepare yourself for the earful your muscle'll give ya. Well, I'm off. Gotta get to bed early so I can clear the clouds with enough time to train ya. Bye, Fluttershy! Bye, Bolt!"

We wave goodbye as our friend flys off to her house.

Fluttershy then quietly speaks "I have to go and put all my animal friends to bed. I think Angel was a little mad at me for leaving for the day, but I'll make his favorite carrot dish to make up for it."

She waves and I wave back. We then go our separate ways, but I stop and turn around "Oh, sorry I forgot, but thanks for the catalogue!"

She turns around and smiles before going back towards her home. I then walk towards Twilight's tree. I stop and get an Idea. I open my wings and give them a few hard flaps. Rising in the air for about a hundred feet or so, I look around and find the library. I lean slightly forward and start to glide towards my destination. I land and walk inside, but don't find Twilight anywhere. Shrugging, I walk into my room and crawl under the covers. I fall asleep with nothing but happy thoughts of the future.

* * *

**A/N: Long chapter, WOO HOO! T****hanks for the view and did you find a reference? If you did, then congratulations! If not, then that makes me feel old for remembering them. Oh! Before I leave, I just want to inform you all that if things continue like they have at my school, then I should be whipping out a chapter every two days! Though my other fic isn't being updated right now...oh well. Oh! Speaking of not updating, I completely forgot about fimfiction...Crap, they all probably think I died or something, meh I'll get to that when I can. I made a pic of BoltFire using the pony creator on Deviantart, just go to my Deviantart gallery to see it. My account name is Ninja6561. Also, sorry for the rushed end, I was pressed for time. Anyway, thank you all, and I'll see ya next chapter!**


	5. Chapter 5: Cool Nights and Three Walls

**A/N: Wow, I'm past 15,000 words for this fic, and that's only counting the first four chapters! Seems that minimum of 3000 words per chapter thing I set for myself is actually working out. I probably spoiled a lot by directing you guys to my deviantart page, but be warned. I have PLENTY more than just those three in store. Oh yes, the ideas are coming to me as I speak. Hmm...that would be good...so would that...oh yes, that would be awesome...now to be able to make it work...**

**Disclaimer: I do not own My Little Pony, or anything that I make reference to in this FanFic, those belong to their respective owners. I do own BoltFire and any other OC's that appear unless otherwise mentioned.**

**Chapter 5: Cool Nights and Three Walls**

***BoltFire***

Darkness...the Darkness of before...the Darkness of future times...the Darkness of hearts...most would say that the Darkness is an evil, wretched thing; waiting to devour those who take it too lightly and without caution. Well, that may be true, but that's only part of the picture. Darkness is a lot like fire, if you treat it with respect and don't flail it around like an idiot then you won't get burnt. The Darkness can protect and hide us from hostile eyes. Some say hiding is the cowards way out, but, in reality, it's the smart way. Live to fight another day, right?

Anyway, over the past week or so, this Darkness has been visiting...well, not visiting, more like waiting till I've fallen asleep to greet me. It does not say anything, nor does it do anything, but, for some reason, I've been picking up faint emotions in the form of colors. How can I tell they were emotions? Well, when the color came up, I felt the emotions themselves. Like for blue, I started to feel a little sad; For yellow, I was happy; pink, embarrassed or the feeling of love; Red, angry; etc. White never came up, and the Black of Darkness never gave off anything, so it might be a lack of emotions.

So, using this method, the Darkness has talked to me every night. It seems friendly enough, almost...motherly. Whenever I'm in its presence, I just feel so safe and warm. Most of the time I don't want to leave, but it just feels like the Darkness wouldn't want that, let alone allow it. Heh, just like a mother, It cares for me yet pushes me away. Well, at least I can feel safe around some...Hmm? What's that?

"...been sleeping for most of the day. I'm surprised he didn't get up when you put those pancakes under his nose, Spike."

_[...Huh? ...Twilight? Is she talking about me? How long have I-Oh crap! I slept in! Dash must have been waiting for me all day!]_

I open my eyes and immediately notice a brown...thing sitting on my chest.

_[Huh...deja'vu] _"Um...Who are you?"

It tilts its head, yet doesn't blink...creepy "Who?"

_[Ah, an owl.] _"You. Who are you?"

"Who."

"Yes, that's the question. Can you tell me who you are?"

"Who?"

"You...you know what? Forget it."

The owl sags a little "Who..."

"Hey, don't give me that. It's not my fault you can only say 'who'. Then again, it's not your fault either...wait...why am I having a conversation with an owl?"

Laughter to my left catches my attention, revealing Spike and Twilight. Spike is holding his sides and Twilight is holding a hoof to her mouth. Upon seeing them, the owl gently flys from me to Twilight, who seems to have gotten over the sight of me trying to get an answer out of an owl "He-he, I see you've met Owlowicious. I'm actually surprised to see him up this late in the day. Normally he sleeps in till about 7:30 pm."

_[um...what kind of name is that?]_ "um...ok. any reason why he was on my chest?"

She taps her chin then looks at owli...owol...the owl. "Well, he might've been curious about you..."

The owl shakes his head.

Now, it was Spike's turn for a guess "Maybe he was hungry and thought you were food?"

Again, the owl shakes his head.

Just for the hell of it, I decided to take a guess "Maybe he just wanted all the noise to go away, so he could go back to sleep. Figuring that you two were talking about me, he began by trying to resolve the source of conflict?"

The owl nods fervently with a slight victory call "Who who!"

A random voice calls out from the window "I call 'em Tosho!"

"AAAAH" We all scream (Except for 'Tosho'...actually, that's not a bad name. I'm gonna start calling him that.) in fright from the unexpected comment.

After I calm myself down, I look towards Twi and Spike only to see Twilight missing and Spike laying there with his claw clutching his heart.

_[Wonder where Twilight went...oh! The owner of the voice has just come through the window.]_

Pinkie steps off the window sill and turns to me "He-he! Morning Bolty! or should I say evening? Anyway, Dashie sent me over here to make sure you didn't forget your lessons were today and then I saw you guys in such deep thought that I couldn't help but make a loud noise when speaking up and then BAM you guys were soooo shocked, ahh good times...Hmm? where's Twilight?"

The mare in question was back in her room, getting a +100 defence boost from her blanket.

"Ah well, she'll show up eventually. But c'mon Bolty! Let's go! You're late enough as it is!" And with that, she jumps out the window...from the second story of the tree "Ah Pinkie wait!" Too late, she already jumped out. I rush over to the window and look out, trying to see if she hurt herself.

"Hmm? Wait for what?"

I turn around and see her standing in the doorway. I honestly have no words for how confused I am, other than the stuttering I was uttering when pointing from her to the window "You...but...how...I...wha..."

She just smiles and giggles at how stupid I most likely sound and/or look "Tee-hee! Your so funny! C'mon, we don't wanna keep Dashie waiting, right?"

I start to say something, but hold it in. Just remembering I wasn't the only one in here, I look at Spike to see if he saw what just happened. He did. His head kept looking from the doorway to the window, trying to figure out how in all of creation that was possible. A couple of seconds later, he passes out with smoke coming out of his ears. Poor guy, and poor brain. On that lovely yet confusing note, I go about my morning rituals. Once finished, I find Pinkie downstairs, reading a pretty big book. The only thing wrong about that is that the book is upside-down in her hooves and she is upside down on a chair. Basically, out of all three of them, Pinkie was the one who is upside-down. Shaking my head and dubbing it as a 'Pinkie thing', I go into the kitchen for some lunch.

She either saw me or sensed my passing, honestly don't know which, but she stops me before I make anything "Oh, you don't need to get anything. We're meeting Dashie at Fluttershy's place before your lessons."

_[Oh, okay. Fine by...wait...we?]_ "Um...we? You mean, you're coming with me? Don't you have things to do?"

Again, she giggles like I missed the most obvious thing in the world "Of course not, silly billy! It's sunday! You know, no work day?"

_[Huh...who woulda thought...sunday, huh? Hmm...if Dashie...ah crap, now Pinkie has me saying it! Anyway, if we finish early, I could start looking for a job. Don't want to mooch off Twilight for the rest of my life. Also gotta find an apartment...]_

I suddenly feel a tapping on my shoulder, jolting me out of my mind "Hellooooooooo~! Equestria to Bolt!"

"Huh?! Oh, what is it Pinkie?"

Without answering me she slaps me across the face. Hard enough to turn me around "Ah! What the hell Pinkie?! What did I do to deserve...that?" I stand there, completely lost and confused as to what I see in front of me.

The reason for my confusion is quite simple. Before she slapped me, I was in Twilight's house talking to Pinkie. Now, I'm outside Fluttershy's cottage looking at Pinkie. The distance between the two locations is about a two to three-hour walk. Basically a mile or so. It just takes longer because we have to make a lot of turns to get to the path for Fluttershy's cottage.

_[Okay...remain calm...don't try to think about it...]_ Too late, my brain decided to screw with me and try to explain what just happened. I ended up much like Spike back at the Library. The last things I see before passing out is a laughing Pinkie Pie, a very concerned Fluttershy, a Rainbow, and an angry Bunny.

* * *

A sea of black, a feeling of warmth.

"Why hello there Darkness, we meet again. And so soon, might I add?"

A pulse of blue, yet no emotions came with it.

"Hmm? Why are you sad? There's nothing really to be sad about."

A flash of yellow, and still no emotions. Kinda weird, but oh well.

"See? You should be happy that we get to be together right now."

A flash of pink, a pause, then white.

"Um...I don't understand."

A flash of...basically every color in the rainbow.

"Ok, now your just screwing with..."

I'm interrupted by voices.

"Ohmygosh! Pinkie, what did you do?!"

_[Dash...?]_

"I don't know. I just got us to where we needed to be. He just decided to pass out."

_[Pinkie...]_

"Oh my...will he be okay?"

_[And Fluttershy.]_

*Tap Tap Tap Tap Tap*

_[Well, that's annoying. Almost as much as the heart monitor, but at least I can finish my-]_

*Tap Tap Tap Tap Tap*

_[...damn it.]_

I decide to get up at this point and notice a slight pressure on my chest. Opening my eyes reveals yet another animal on my chest, this time a white rabbit.

_[Alright, what the hell is with animals laying on my chest when I wake up? Jeez, I hope this doesn't happen again. Three is more than enough...Is..is it glaring at me?]_

Sure enough, the white rabbit is glaring at me. I would normally find this adorable but there's just something about his posture that tells me it means business.

A voice to my right pulls my attention from the angry bunny "Oh! Dash, Pinkie, he's awake!"

I turn towards the voice and the first thing I notice is that I'm no longer outside. My guess is that the girls pulled me inside and set me on the couch. Pinkie and Dash stop their arguing and look towards me, relief in their eyes.

Dash steps forward "C'mon Bolt, what gives? Why'd you have to pass out like that? Now we practically have no time for today!"

I just rub my head and began trying to explain. I couldn't find the right words so I might as well use the basic one "Well, I guess I did the stupidest and most dangerous thing to do around here. Or in all of Equestria, for that matter..."

Dash crosses her arms and raises an eyebrow "Oh yeah? And what would that be?"

I sigh "Attempt to make sense of Pinkie Pie."

That got the three of them to snicker "Heh, yeah. That is pretty dangerous. Careful, or you might roast your brain till there's nothing left."

I chuckle "Yeah, thanks for the advice...by the way, how long was I out?"

Pinkie pulls an over-sized pocket-watch out from nowhere "It's almost 4:30 now, sooooo...two hours."

I stare for about a minute, then get slapped for the second time today "Ow! What's with all the hitting?!"

Dash just smirks while waving her hoof a little "Sorry, it just looked like you were going to try to think of how what she just did is possible, again."

I rub my cheek and chuckle in embarrassment "Heh, yeah. I guess I was. Thanks for the save, Dashie."

Almost immediately, it turns dead silent in the room. If it happened, I'm pretty sure you could've heard a fly fart...do they even flatulate to begin with? Oh, well. Right now, all the mares are looking at me funny. Fluttershy has a shocked expression, Dash is the same except for a light blush, and Pinkie is just smiling like crazy. I tilt my head in confusion but then realize what I just said "...damn it Pinkie! Now you got me saying it out loud!"

Pinkie starts rolling on the floor, laughing maniacly. I honestly have no idea how long she can keep this up before passing out. Probably forever. Fluttershy still has the shocked expression, though I believe I see a small amount of...sadness in her eyes? And Dash's blush has gotten a little brighter. I start to get up, but the pressure from earlier returns. I look and see the rabbit is still on my chest...giving me a death glare. I start to sweat from the intensity of it's glare, until it mercifully hops away. I get up and look in the direction it left to see it standing at the end of a hallway. It was still giving me the death glare but pointed at its eyes, then to me and back again. It hops away after a couple of seconds.

I just sit there, sweating a bit "Um...who was that...?"

Fluttershy snaps out of her trance and addresses me "Oh...that was Angel."

Pinkie stops laughing and adds her own two bits "Yeah, he's her special pet rabbit. Sure, she cares for a lot of animals, but she only has one pet. Like I have Gummy and Twilight has Tosho."

Fluttershy tilts her head in confusion "Tosho...? Oh, you must mean Owlowicious."

Pinkie nods "Yup, that's the one. Anyway, Dash. Why don't you tell him about...Dash?"

I look to her and don't see Dash in the spot she was in. We look left and right, but Rainbow isn't anywhere to be found. Pinkie tilts her head then shrugs "Oh well, she probably wanted to get home before dark. I should probably go, too. Bye Fluttershy! Bye, Bolty!"

She says this while walking into a closet. I get up and walk to the closet, not finding a Pinkie Pie that SHOULD be in there. I just stare then shake my head "Well, I should probably get going, too. Sorry for any inconveniences I may have caused."

She shakes her head and gives me a small smile "Oh, no. It was no trouble at all. Pinkie and Rainbow did all the heavy lifting. I just had to keep my animal friends in check."

After that, we say goodbye and I start heading back to town. As I make my way back to Twi's house, I keep an eye out for a message board or 'help-wanted' signs anywhere. About half way back, I find the former next to the town hall. At this time, it's almost 5:00 so I can barely make out what's on the board. Luckily, the street light above me turns on. Looking back, I see invoices for various jobs and discounts at stores. Apparently, there's a sale going on at a prank shop.

Other than a few interesting sales, I didn't see any I liked and was about to walk away when I see a sliver of paper under the others. Curious, I lift up the papers covering it and find that it's a 'Room-mate Wanted' notice. Next to that was a 'Help Wanted' sheet from Sweet apple acres. Seeing as both were hidden by the others, I decided to just take the papers and read them later, seeing as no one miss them.

I go to put them in my bags when I realize that I didn't bring my bags today. Hell, I didn't even bring my goggles. But I guess that's what happens when your woken up and (somehow) randomly teleported in the span of about five minutes. Sighing, I continue to walk back to Twilight's with the papers in my mouth.

An hour later, I arrive at the library. I turn the knob only to find it locked.

"Uf...jush gre. jush fuging gre..."

I start to knock on the door, getting an answer after about five seconds later.

"We're closed! Jeez, doesn't anypony read the sign?!"

I spit out the papers into my hoof, noticing the small amount of saliva that built up on them...eww "Twilight, it's me! You know, BoltFire?"

A clamor of hooves on wood closely followed by the turning of the lock. Twilight opens the door, a look of relief gracing her features, quickly replaced by anger "Where were you?! After Pinkie left, Spike and I couldn't find you anywhere!"

I just shake my head and let out an exasperated sigh "She didn't leave by herself. Somehow we got where we needed to go in a matter of seconds. Not to mention pain on my part."

We walk into the main room and I try to explain to Twilight what exactly happened without frying either of our brains. I can proudly say that I succeded...somewhat. Both of us where fine, it's just that, unknown to us, Spike joined us about halfway through. We only found out he was there when we heard a thud and saw a string of smoke emanating next to Twilight. When we see him laying there, we both sigh, shake our heads, and mumble two words.

"Not again..."

She takes him upstairs to their room and I get something to eat. Nothing fancy, just some fruit and a sandwich. After I finish eating and cleaning up, I walk into my room and look at the two papers I picked up earlier. The one from Sweet Apple Acres just says that if any are interested, they should meet up with any of the Apple family for further details. I shift my attention to the other and it practically says the same thing. Except instead of the Apple family it has an address.

"Oh, what do you have there?"

I turn around to see Twilight standing in the doorway "Oh, just some notices for a place to work and a home for rent."

Her ears droop a little "Really? You don't like living here?"

I gulp and choose my next words VERY carefully. For some reason, I feel like I'm treading on thin ice "Um...no it's not that. It's just...I don't want to have to rely on someone for everything. And seeing as you didn't ask for rent or anything in return for me living here, I kinda felt like I was being a burden."

She perks up when hearing this "Bolt, you're not a burden. Not once have I said otherwise."

I rub my neck "Yeah, I know. But I still want to do this. And it's not like we won't see each other anymore. We're friends, right?"

She giggles "He-he, yeah. You're right, we are friends...Well, if this is going to be your last day here, I might as well help as much as I can. Can I see the rent notice?"

I hand it to her and she starts scribbling down directions "Okay, here. These are the directions from here to the house your going to." She hoofs me the papers and smiles.

I smile back and a yawn escapes my throat "haaa...thanks for everything, Twi. I'll try to visit everyday if I can."

Her smile grows bigger "I'd like that. Well...goodnight, Bolt."

"Night Twi."

She leaves and I start to get under the covers. I don't immediately go to sleep, just lie there and stare at the ceiling. Multiple sounds become present. The mass chorus of crickets, the soft swaying of trees, the occasional hoot of an owl, all in all, the music of the night. I turn to the window and see the moon smiling gently upon the inhabitants of Ponyville. Covering all it sees in a gentle ivory light, lovingly coaxing all to rest and save their energies for the next day. It is only at this point that I realise I haven't seen the night sky in all my conscious days.

I walk over to the window and push it open. Once that was done I open my wings and start to fly out. Before going too far, I turn around and start to fly to the top of the tree. At the top, I land on a flat bed of leaves that almost look naturally made, though if I really looked I'd see that the area's been stamped down. For the next couple of hours, I lie there and stare at the beautiful night sky. Taking in as much as I can before sleep eventually takes me.

I start to drift off when I hear the flapping of wings followed by the shifting of leaves. Turning my head from my downed position, I see a pony I'm not too familiar with. The pony in question was obviously a mare, her dark-blue coat somewhat glistening in the moonlight. Her hair was long and seemed to be blowing in a non-existant wind. The color of which seemed to be slightly translucent and reminiscent of the night sky. Her eyes were a calm teal and she was staring at me with slight confusion. The last thing I notice is her wings...and her horn.

_[Hmm...what did that book call winged unicorns...oh, yeah! Alicorns...but that must mean...]_

I spring to my hooves and start to say something. She puts a wing to her lips "Shhh."

I realise I might have shouted and begin to calm down. After a bit I feel calm enough to talk "Um...hello? Who are you?"

She smiles a little and walks towards me. She sits next to me and looks sky-ward "So what do you think of my night?"

I was going to repeat my question, but her statement confuses me "Your night? What do you mean 'your night'?"

She covers her mouth with a wing to suppress a giggle "Well, the same way as it sounds. I would like to think so seeing as I made all those stars and constellations up there."

That stops me in my tracks and causes my eyes to widen. I stare at her blankly and switch from her to the sky and back again.

_[She made those? All those beautiful, twinkling orbs in the sky? Wow...]_

And once again, someone laughs at my idiotic expression "He-he, I take it your shocked?"

I could only nod my head.

She laughs again but turns silent and looks back towards the sky. A small sigh escaping her lips, as she starts to speak with a melancholic tone "You know...not many ponies enjoy the night. Most are scared that something will jump out at them and take them away. They would much rather stay in their homes and wait for my sister's sun to light up their paths."

I open my mouth to say something, but close it immediately. Not wanting to interrupt her and seem rude, I let her continue.

"...long ago, back when Equestria was still young, I grew resentful of the praise that Celestia always got. The band of followers, fans, the exclamations of love (although they were all misguided fools who didn't know the difference between real love and idolation)...over time, I became a cruel, spiteful being. One day, I finally snapped and tried to make the night last forever. Ponies started calling me 'Nightmare Moon' out of fear. This forced Celestia to send me to the moon for a thousand years. Those thousand years were the loneliest I had ever felt. If I was thinking straight, I would've figured out how many would be devastated by my imprisonment and how many more would weep for me, as if I passed on. During those years, I began thinking about all that had happened up until that point. With no one to talk to, I started to talk to myself, which made me grow more and more resentful of Celestia. After the thousand years, I escaped and tried to do the same thing as last time. This time, however, I was stopped by the mare whose tree we're on and here friends."

My eyes go a little wider, soon enough I'll have Pinkie sized eyes...Jeez, that'll suck on a windy day "Wow...but...why are you telling me this?"

She seems to realize something and rub the back of her head with a slight blush. Ha! I'm not the only one who does that! "Sorry, it just sort of wormed it's way out. I normally don't talk to many ponies, so I don't really have any conversational material."

I tilt my head in confusion "Why don't you talk to ponies? You seem like a great mare to hang out with. Sure you may have done something horrible in the past..."

"Twice..."

I shake my head "It doesn't matter. The point is that its in the past and you weren't all there when it happened anyway. Just anger and hate doesn't make someone who they are. That's only part of them, not the whole picture. And if I had a guess, I'd say that this 'Nightmare Moon' was only a shell, covering up a sad, lonely mare that just wanted to be loved and accepted by others. And now that the Nightmare is gone, everyone's too afraid to notice that Nightmare Moon isn't you. Hell, she never was to begin with."

As I say this, her eyes begin to get larger as I continue. Tears start to form and slowly drip down her face. Seeing the tears, I couldn't help but wonder what's wrong. I open my mouth to speak but stop when she raises a hoof, effectively silencing me. She wipes the tears from her eyes then looks at me with a small, hopeful smile "Do you...really mean that?"

I nod, smiling with my eyes closed.

"But...why?"

I open my eyes, tilt my head and raise an eyebrow.

She understands my confusion and clarifies "Why would you, a pony who just recently met me and who knows about my past, be so kind and forgiving?"

I put a hoof to my chin and begin to think about it. After a minute, I shrug "I guess it would have to be a gut feeling of mine. And why would I not be kind when you never did anything wrong to me or my friends? As I said before, Nightmare moon isn't you. She's more like...a defense mechanism. You were sad, scared, and lonely. Celestia probably didn't have enough time to hang out from ruling the country which caused you to curl more and more into yourself, causing your emotions to, instead of leaking out by talking to someone, curve around and come back at your already depressed state...I sound like a shrink right now, huh?"

This causes her to laugh, tears slipping down her face. She wipes her eyes again and smiles at me, this time a much happier smile "He-he, yes you do...and thank you."

"Huh? For what?"

"That was the first time I've ever heard anypony say something like that to me. It's almost as if you don't know about Alicorns being royalty."

I shrug "I honestly don't care about the status of others. We're all living, breathing beings here. And I do know that Alicorns are the Royalty, but I feel that even Royalty needs to unwind every once in a while."

She giggles then mutters something along the lines of 'You and Tia would get along well.'

I chuckle a little and look back towards the sky. She joins me for about ten minutes or so till she got up "Sorry, but I have to leave. Celestia might be worried if I stay out too long."

I feel saddened that she has to leave, but then remember it's close to midnight "Oh, okay. Besides..." yaaawn "It's late and I have to get up in the morning to get some things done. Anyway, it was nice meeting you...what did you say your name was, again?"

She laughs "You never asked, but it's Luna."

_[Um...I think I did...didn't I? Meh, oh well.] _"Okay, Luna. Oh, before you go, can I ask a question?"

She smiles a bit "You just did, but go ahead."

_[Did a member of the royal family just crack a joke?]_ "Well, I had fun talking to you and I wanted to know, wanna be my friend?"

She stares at me, seemingly stunned by my offer "D-doth thou jest?"

_**PERFECT BRAIN AND MOUTH SYNCHRONIZATION!**_

_[um...what?]_ "Um...what?"

She shakes her head "I mean...really?"

I shake my head as well "Of course. Why would I joke about things like this?"

She looks away, slightly embarrassed "Well, it's just that I didn't expect this to happen. I mean, we only just met and you already want to be friends with me? I'm happy, don't get me wrong. I'm just shocked."

I smile "Yeah, I know the feeling. Well, I should probably stop taking up your valuable time and get some sleep."

Her ears go down a little "Oh...okay."

Seeing that sad expression on her face pulled at my heart-strings.

**Meanwhile...**

A mint-green unicorn suddenly wakes up from an excessively..._steamy_ dream. She looks around her room, trying to find the source of the disturbance. Not finding any and checking her clock, she yawns and crawls back into bed, curling up against a cream-colored earth pony and letting out a happy sigh before sleeping.

**Back to us...**

I just couldn't let her go looking sad to leave what is most likely her first friend "Hey, don't be sad." She lifts up her head "If you want, we can hang out here tomorrow night."

"Really...?"

I nod, and the next thing I feel is pain. _Lots_ of pain.

"Oh, Thank you Thank you Thank you!" _Squee~_ "I gotta go tell Tia'! Bye, Bolt!"

And with that, I'm relieved of my pain (which turned out to be an atomic hug) and Luna flies off towards Canterlot.

After I make sure my ribs were intact, I open up my wings and glide back down to my window. I close the window and yawn for the last time tonight. I hop into bed and almost immediately fall asleep, but before that happens, I have one last thought.

_[How did she know my name?]_

* * *

**A/N: Well, there you guys go. My longest chapter so far. And Luna was (re)introduced! So, as usual, tell me what you guys think. Also, sorry about not posting last week. I was distracted by double XP weekend...sad excuse is sad. And another thing, if the title confuses you, think of Pinkie and her "abilities" with reality.**

**?: **Um...you never asked them what they thought before...

Holy shit! who are you?!

**?:** *Face palm* Idiot, I'm you.

No you're not. I'm right here, I can't be over there and over here at the same time.

**'Other-me':** *Bridge of nose pinch* Dude, Pinkie's here. I'm here. Magic is involved. It's not impossible.

Wait, what? I don't see Pink-

**Pinkie:** HIYA!

*Girly scream followed by goat-style faint*

**'Other-me':** Huh...you think he'd be used to it by now...

**Pinkie:** Yeah...oh well, he'll get up and start the next chapter soon, so it's all good. Wanna get something to eat, Dark?

**'Dark':** Eh, sure. So, I'm gonna be called 'Dark' from now on?

**Pinkie:** Yup, can't have two people named Nick in one area, now can we? Besides, you came after he changed his pen-name, so it's only fitting.

**Dark:** Huh, guess you're right. Alright, let's leave him to get better and grab some grub.

**End Chapter 5**


	6. Chapter 6: A Home and A Job

**A/N: I can't believe I have over 20k words...I'm on a roll! Nothing can possibly go wrong now! (If you listen closely, you can hear the universe shouting "Challenge Accepted!") Also, Dark's an asshole. After he left me on the floor, he has the audacity to not bring me any food from wherever he and Pinkie went. Do you all know how tiring it is to write multi-thousand word chapters? Very. And, before you read on, the soundtrack for 'Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance' is really fucking badass. The developers did an awesome job when choosing the music. Anyway, onto the-**

**Pinkie:** Boo!

**Me: ***Jumps and gets head stuck in ceiling*

**Dark:** *Wince* ooh...that looked like it hurt.

**Me: ***Pulls head out of ceiling and falls into chair* Ow... *Turns attention to intruders* What the hell are...oh yeah. Pinkie...That explains it. Pinkie, please don't scare me from now on. You might give me a heart attack.

**Pinkie: ***Tilts head* Huh? Why would I make your heart attack you? But since you asked, I'll try.

**Me:** Thank you. And as for you, you asshole! What the hell, man?! Why didn't you bring me back some food?!

**Dark:** It never crossed my mind. (Sigh) If it'll make you stop you're bitching, take my Falcon-punch energy drink. You know, to help you stay awake.

**Me:** Oh no, I know what this'll do. (Points to label that says "It's like a Falcon-shaped punch to the face!")

**Dark:** *Face-palms* Dude, that's just a gimmick. Quit being a chicken and just take it.

**Pinkie:** Huh, did Scootaloo tag along with us?

**Me:** ...Why don't you open it?

**Dark:** Ugh! Fine! *Opens can*

**Can:**_ falcon..._

**Me:** *eyeballing the can* Now take a sip...

**Dark:** For the love of...*Takes a sip* There, happy?!

**Me:** *Grabs Can* Very. *Goes to take a drink*

**Can:** _PAWNCH!_

(It wasn't just a gimmick...)

*I'm thrown across the room and land unconscious on my bed*

**Pinkie:** ooh...that must hurt

**Dark:** HA! Take that, ya whiny bitch!

**Pinkie:** Dark, you were _made_ by that whiny bitch.

**Dark:** ...fuck. *Fades out of existence*

**Pinkie:** Huh, since their both useless right now. I guess I'll have to post this chapter. Although Nick does look like a nice, squishy pillow. I'll sleep later. Now, where's his...Ah, found it!

**Disclaimer: Nick does not own My Little Pony, or anything that he makes references to in this FanFic, those belong to their respective owners. He does own BoltFire and any other OC's that appear unless otherwise mentioned. And just so you all know, 'Falcon-punch energy drink' was thought up by Nick and his friends without any outside influence. So if there was already a 'Falcon-punch energy drink' out there, they never encountered it. So you can't sue him or his friends if you own it...they called dibs anyways. And if you haven't notice by now, thoughts are in** **_italics_****surrounded by [these].**

**Pinkie:** (Tries to sound like Zecora) Also! Beware, all who read ahead. For Princess 'M' might attack you in bed.

**Chapter** **6: A Home and A Job**

**~Luna~**

**(You thought** **I'd** **start with the main character, huh?)**

_[I can't believe it...I have a friend...and I didn't really have to do anything to get one. It was just dumb luck that he was awake during one of my night flights. Sure, he's the pegasus that me and 'Tia have been monitoring for a while now, but he still counts.]_

I was coming back from Twilight's and I've never felt happier. To be honest, I haven't felt this joyful since me and 'Tia used to play together as fillies. This was my first friend, my first _real_ friend. I was so happy to have made a friend that I didn't notice I was being followed to Canterlot. I was almost half way home when the one stalking me made their presence known, or rather _her_ presence.

"So, I see you're enjoying yourself."

I almost jump out of my skin when I hear that. I would have bolted back to the castle, but I recognize that voice anywhere.

"H-h-hey, 'Tia."

I don't turn around, but feel her glide next to me.

"Hey, yourself. Do you mind telling me what's got you in such a good mood?"

I start to sweat, my mind racing a million miles a minute.

_[Crap! How in hades am I going to explain to 'Tia that I visited HIM?! Oh jeez, wait, calm down, deep breaths. If I play it cool, maybe she won't suspect a thing.]_

I turn to her and notice the blank look she's giving me. I open my mouth, but she speaks first "So...you visited _him_, then?"

I falter in my flight and drop about ten feet before righting myself, all the while sweating bullets "W-what makes you say that?"

She smirks raises an eyebrow at me "Well for one, you're a horrible liar when you know you've been caught doing something. And two, I can read Italics."

That last comment made me momentarily stop and stare at her confused. She rolls her eyes "That's not important right now. What _is_ important is that you revealed yourself to the main character too early in the series, and for that, you must be..." she starts grinning and licks her lips _"...punished~."_

I was going to question what she ment by 'series' when I'm stopped by two things. One, she did say that his life was like a soap opera once. And two...did she say...punished?

I open my eyes wide when I realise what she ment "Oh pony feathers..."

Before I could say or do anything else, Celestia's horn glows brightly and, in a flash of light, we're transported back to the castle.

***Third person (Pony?) Point of view***

All was quiet in the castle, as it normally is at night. The guards at this point have been relieved by the Night Guard. The Night Guard look like regular pegasi except instead of bird wings, they have bat wings. Their eyes, instead of a round pupil, are slit like a cat's eye. They are the personal guard to the Princess of the Night and are fiercely devoted to their dark mistress. The night is their day and when they are the most alert. So, noticing and pin-pointing a cry in the night is foal's play to them.

"NO! IT'S TOO EMBARICING! OW! STOP, YOUR HURTING ME! NO, NOT THERE! AAAAHH!"

Recognizing that voice as Princess Luna made nearly all of those in a fifty meter radius of her rush towards the source of the distress, originating from within the Dark mistress' own chambers. One of the first outside of her door was Commander NightWing, one of Luna's best soldiers. Rounding up some troops, they break down Luna's door and take in the scene before them.

At first, they did not know what to think of the situation. Then, one by one, blood starts to drip from their noses. There, right in front of them, was Princess Luna, dressed in a brown school uniform complete with black mini-skirt, being spanked with a ruler by Princess Celestia, wearing a gray teacher's uniform with her hair done in a bun, an equally short mini-skirt, and glasses on her nose.

Two of the guards' noses spurt more blood, making them pass out, three others bolt out of the room, and five more just stand there shocked. The guards stare at the princesses, and the princesses stare at the guards. After what seems like an eternity, someone speaks up. Unfortunately, for all except herself, it was Celestia "Since your all still here, I'm going to guess you want to join in?"

Those not already unconscious soon join their fallen comrades, leaving only Commander NightWing standing with his face redder than a tomato "Um...er...what..."

Celestia addresses him directly "Is there a problem, Commander?"

He can only shake his head.

Celestia smiles "Good now unless you want to join me in my _fun,_ I suggest you get your troops out and get a drink or three."

This must have broken something in him, for stream was coming out of his ears and what sounds like a tea kettle can be heard. He falls over, his face almost glowing red and his leg twitching. Celestia lets out a sigh as her horn lights up and all the bodies and blood disappear from the room. She turns her attention back to Luna, whose face is bright red as well "So Luna, shall we continue our _fun_?"

***BoltFire***

I didn't really get much sleep last night. I kept getting woken up by seemingly nothing. It was either due to nervous or excitement about the day ahead of me. Probably both.

Anyway, morning came and I got ready for the day like I normally do. You know, answering calls from nature, fixing my mane (Not as girly as it sounds.), making my bed, etc. Anyway, I was walking down stairs and about to eat breakfast when a thought struck me. Since this is my last day here, why not make it worth-while to those who helped me out? Nodding to myself, I set out to making the residents of the library breakfast. Right as I'm about to start, another thought slaps me in the face.

_[...crap. Do I even know how to cook? I never really had the time to figure out if I could...meh, if I can't, I can't. Won't know till I try. Alright, let's do this!]_

With that in mind, I set out to make the best damn meal I've ever made before.

* * *

I step away from the counter, wiping my hooves off with a towel. A small smile spreads across my face "There, it's all done"

I hear a door upstairs open, followed by groans and the same door shutting. Foot and hoofsteps soon emanate from the stairs.

_[Ah, good. Their awake. Saves me the trouble of waking them.]_

I lean out the kitchen to see a sleepy Twilight, whose mane was an absolute rat's nest, and a half asleep Spike, who decided to come down with his pillow.

"Morning." I call to them.

Twilight mumbles something and Spike looks like he's sleep walking. I shake my head as they go about as zombies.

"If either of you care, I made breakfast."

Almost immediately, their attention focuses on me. Well, my general direction at least. In all honesty, I think they didn't even see anything other than the food laid out before them. Before they demolish what I have, I might as well list off what I made.

Before the two had come down, I had set the dinning room table up with a feast fit for kings.

**(Pride wave, Activated! Over-exaggerating mode, Unleashed!)**

Colossal mountains of pancakes with fresh water falls of syrup gently careening down to a shallow, glistening pond forming at the base. Great forests of fruits and vegetables surrounding the mountain, filling the air with sweet scents and glistening with morning dew. Butterflies made from bananas gently flapping in the breeze.

...ok, I really only made a stack or two of pancakes and waffles accompanied by a bowl or two of fruits and veggies. The fruits only glistened from a recent washing and the syrup was in a bottle. Seriously, where the hell did that imagery come from?

Twilight snaps out of a food trance I possibly put her in. She tilts her head and looks at me "Bolt...what's all this?"

Spike's starting to drool on the floor so I go to grab a mop "Well, it looks to be breakfast."

She shakes her head "That's not what I meant. I mean, what's all this doing here?"

Spike shakes himself out of his daydream and rushes to a chair, allowing me to get to his drool pool...ha, and ew "Well, since this is my last day at the library, I decided to make you two breakfast. I hope you don't mind."

She looks at me shocked for a bit but then smiles "No, its alright. I'm just surprised is all, I mean, I didn't know you could cook."

I shrug "Me neither. I just decided to go for it, seeing as I had nothing to lose."

She nods, her smile never-fading "Well, it looks like it worked out. Let's hurry before Spike eats it all."

* * *

Spike's lying on the floor, petting his noticeably full stomach. He belches "Oh, sweet Celestia, that was the best wake up call I've ever had."

Twilight and I are in a similar state as Spike, nodding in agreement. After what seems like an hour of sitting and sighing happily, I finally get up.

"Oh, where are you off to?"

I look back to see Twilight trying to get up off the floor, emphasis on _try_. Chuckling to myself, I help her off the floor "Well, I was going to get my stuff ready so I could get things done."

Her ears tilt back slightly "Oh yeah...you're leaving today."

I put a hoof on her shoulder "Hey, don't worry. Like I said, I'll do my best to visit everyday. It's not like I'm going away forever, is it?"

This perks her up "No, it's not. Thanks for the wonderful meal and don't worry about the dishes, I'll have Spike help me with them later."

I nod my head with a smile and go up to my room. As I gather my things together, I stop and take one last look at the room. At first I feel sad to leave, but stop when I remember why I'm doing this. I shake my head and finish getting my stuff together, the last of which being my goggles which I simply put around my neck.

I head downstairs and make my way to the door where, somewhat surprisingly, Twilight, Spike, and Owli...Tosho are waiting for me. Spike looks on the brink of crying, Twilight has a sad smile, and, as usual, Tosho shows no expression "This is it, huh?"

I nod.

"You still have those instructions I gave you?"

A second nod "Yeah, I got them. And if I ever do get lost, I'll just head back here, if that's alright with you."

She laughs a little, a couple tears falling "Yeah that's fine. See you later, Bolt."

I surprise her by wrapping her up in a hug "Thanks for everything, Twi."

At first she just stands there, then she hugs me back "Your welcome, Bolt."

I release her and then ruffle up Spike's...fins? Head spines? I don't know what they are, I just ruffled them though "See ya around, Spike."

A single tear drips down his face as he nods.

At this point, I turn around and head through the door. Wondering what the world has in store for me next.

* * *

I've been walking for an hour now and have yet to decide where to go first. On one hoof, if I go to Sweet apple acres first, the room-mate position may be filled. On the other hoof, if I head to the house first, the job opening might be filled.

_[Hmm...Stable income, or a roof over my head? Decisions, decisions.]_

As if the universe heard of my dilemma, someone I know quite well walks up to me "Why howdy there, Bolt. What'cha doing jus' standin' there all by yer lonesome?"

I turn and greet the stetson-wearing, orange mare "Oh, hey Applejack. I was just trying to decide between two things until you came along. I actually have something to ask you."

"Well, what is it, Sugercube?"

I reach into my bag and take out the help-wanted poster "Do you still need help with the farm? I was hoping to do some work."

Her eyes glisten when I mentioned the job opening "Well paint me blue and call me Sherley, I didn't expect this happenin' at all. Do you know how long that things been up for, sugercube?"

I think back to how much stuff was covering it and did a rough estamate "A month or two?"

She chuckles "Yup, round that time. Dang, can't believe that things been up there all this time."

My ears tilt back a bit "So, that means the jobs already taken?"

She laughs and wraps a fore-leg around my neck "Shoot, are ya kiddin'? That jobs been up fer grabs about as long as that there posters been up. If yer intrested, I'll give ya the job and ya can start tomorrow, hows that sound?"

I smile a little bigger than I normally do and hug her "Thats perfect, thanks Applejack!"

She blushes a bit and rubs the back of her head "Ah, shucks. It was nothin', sugercube. Anything to help a friend. Besides, we could use all the help we can get at the farm."

I release her and shrink my smile a bit. Just so that it's barely noticable "So, what time should I arrive tomorrow?"

She tilts her hat up "Around eight if ya can. Ah really appreciate this, sugercube."

I allow my smile to grow a little "Alright, I'll be there. Oh, and before you leave, can you tell me how to get to a certain place from here?"

I hand(hoof? confound these different sayings) her the instructions Twilight gave me. She looks at them and nods "Yeah, ya see that building right there?"

I look to see she's pointing to a joke shop, I nod.

"Well, take a left after that and you'll be on main street. After that, jus follow Twi's instructions."

I thank her and head towards my next destination.

* * *

As I got further along I notice the sun gradually getting closer to the horizon, leaving me with only a few hours of light to get to my, hopefully, new home. I continue to walk around and finally reach my destination.

_[Huh, this is it? Kinda looks abandoned from this spot...hmm? Is that a light in the dark?]_

Deciding to test if I'm just hallucinating or not, I knock on the door.

...

_[...]_

Not hearing anything, I raise my hoof to knock again only for the door to open. I couldn't stop myself in time and ended up booping whoever opened the door on their nose. Looking at my hoof, I allow my gaze to travel up and take in the details of the other pony. Red eyes stare at me with an unamused glare, long blue and green hair brushed slightly aside to allow some vision but still somewhat messy, white fur with an equally white horn. When the pony spoke, I realised she was a mare.

"What."

_[Jeez, grouchy. Well, I would be too if I've been randomly poked on the nose.]_

I bring my hoof back down after realising I still had it on her nose "Uh..."

"Spit it out, I don't got all night."

"Um...I'm here about this." I take out the second notice paper.

She takes one look at it then practically drags me inside. After closing the door...well, slamming it is more like it, she turns on a couple lights and looks back at me "It's about damn time."

I tilt my head in confusion.

She sighs rather loudly "For somepony to answer the notice. I put that thing up ages ago, almost lost this place a couple times."

I nod my head in understanding.

Her shoulders sag a little "Sigh, come on. I'll show you where your room is."

I nod, finding that speaking's not necessary. As I follow her, I take in the surroundings as best I can in this rushed tour. I can hardly get details in when it's as dark as it is, but I see a decently furnished living room, some doors that I assume are closets and a bathroom or two, a spacious kitchen and a sliding glass door that leads to a back-yard.

My guide takes me up a set of stairs that I didn't realize were there until after we got to them, leading me past a couple doors until finally stopping at one "This is where you'll be sleeping. Do whatever you want to the room, I don't really care. Just don't disturb me and you'll be fine."

I nod my head and push open the door. Inside I find a pretty basic set up when it comes to rooms. A queen sized bed with a bed-side lamp, a dresser with a mirror next to, a smallish closet and a window letting in the dying sunlight.

"Perfect. Oh, and what is the rent?"

"Fifty bits a month. Don't bother trying to find me in here, I'll come to you when it's time."

"Alright, that sounds fair. Oh, and I didn't catch your name, I'm BoltFire. Most ponies call me Bolt though."

She nods "Double Pump. Just call me Double." With that said, she left me to myself.

_[Huh, she's a nice enough mare...when she's not booped.]_

I set my bag on the dresser and test out the bed. Surprisingly comfy for something that doesn't get enough use. After a minute or two of familiarizing myself with the room, Double Pump comes back in with something encased in a cocoon of magic "Almost forgot, here. Spare key."

I grab it (with hooves...how the hell can anything be grabbed with hooves?!) and nod. She leaves saying something about being lucky getting a quiet room-mate. As she leaves, I catch a glimpse of her cutie-mark. A lone, black quaver note.

_[A music lover? Or a composer?]_

I shake my head and look out the window to the now dark sky. The moon wrapping all in its soft, ivory glow. Cascading it's lunar rays on...wait...Lunar...lunar...Oh shit, Luna!

_[Crap! I completely forgot! Crap, crap, crap, double crap, triple crap!]_

With that chant going through my head, I grab my bag and rush out my room. I go back when I remember the key that'll be my only way back in. Making sure I have everything, I exit the house and lock the door. I put the key in my bag and take off to Twilight's house.

* * *

"Haa...haa...haa...looks like I made it."

I'm standing on what can only be described as Twi's roof with no sign of Luna anywhere.

"Hmm...guess I'm early."

I set my stuff down and look at the many stars above my head. After a minute or two, I decide to try to count the stars above me. I get to about five-hundred forty-six when I hear flapping behind me. Turning, I see Princess Luna landing gracfully behind me "Hi, Bolt."

"Hey, Luna."

"How've you been?"

I nod "Good, you?"

She smiles and nods "Same, although 'Tia can me a bit...much."

Soon, much of the night is taken up by our small talk. Our topics ranging pretty much everywhere.

I'm so engrossed in our conversation, I barely remember an important detail "Oh, that reminds me. I'm currently renting a house and got a job."

She pats my back "Good for you. Didn't want to be a burden to Twilight, hmm?"

I nod "Yeah, she didn't ask for anything in return and it just didn't sit right with me. So I made her and Spike a nice breakfast and moved out."

She nods in understanding and starts to say something but is stopped when she notices the moons position "Ah, it seems our time is just about up. It was good seeing you again, Bolt."

"You too. Same time tomorrow?"

She nods and surprises me with a hug "That would be wonderful."

I hesitate for a second but then hug her back. We release each other and fly in different directions, heading towards our own homes. I land in front of Double's door and take out my key. After unlocking and re-locking the front door, I tiptoe (tiphoof? Again, confound these weird sayings) up the stairs and to my room. I set my stuff down and crawl under the covers.

_[Wow...so comfy and warm...almost feels like someone else slept in this recently...na, can't be. Even though none can hear me, Night all. Sweet dreams.]_

I fall asleep, thinking of what tomorrow holds for me and my friends.

**A/N: Woohoo! Ch. 6 is done! Spring-break is he-...huh?**

A feeling of something pressed against my side interrupts me. I look down to see Pinkie curled up next to me, sleeping with a smile on her face. Seeing her like this puts a smile on my face as well. I let out a yawn and decide to turn in for the night. Shutting off the bed side lamp, I wrap my arms around Pinkie to keep her warm and, I don't know where this came from, kiss her forehead. At first I'm afraid she won't take too kindly to that, but instead of shuffling away she sighs happily and scoots _closer_ to me.

**Pinkie:** (Muttering in her sleep) Mmm...g'night Nick...

**Me:** Goodnight, Pinkie...

I fall asleep feeling warm on the inside and nothing but happy dreams to look forward to.

**End of Ch.6. Happy Spring-break!**

**P.S. I might not do a chapter next week, you know, what with it being spring-break and all. I might be lazy or I might be productive. Haven't decided which, though.**

**P.P.S I don't own Double Pump. She belongs to a friend of mine that doesn't have a FanFiction account**


	7. Chapter 7: The Job and Awkward Moments

**A/N: Huh...I actually decided to write on break...Anyway, I'm working to get a job and my Food Handler's card when I decide to check up on this FanFiction when I found something I never thought I'd see for at least three more chapters...Someone Reviewed! Well, others reviewed before but that was on Chapter 1. If you two are reading this, then I am sorry for not replying in chapter. I did however P.M. you two. Well, Might as well acknowledge their reviews now, BoltFire! Get in here!**

**BoltFire:** What?**  
**

**Author:** Help me with the reviews.

**BoltFire:** Ugh, do I have to?

**Author:** Well, this story IS about you. And because I said so. Now get to it!

**BoltFire:** ...you're a cruel bastard, you know that?

**Author:** Meh, I've been called worse. Now, onto the reviews!

**In reply to: Chief Wolfee**

**Author:** Thanks, it's a pleasure to be here. Oh, and congrats on being the first reviewer!

**BoltFire:** He probably doesn't even read this anymore because you hadn't posted the second chapter for a couple months.

**Author:** Aw, what do you know? He's probably reading right now and neither of us can tell.

**BoltFire:** You kept me in a coma for three months!

**Author:** Hey, don't blame me. Blame Discord, he's been rampaging in my brain.

**BoltFire:** ...You're hopeless.

**In reply to: ogatasensei123**

**Author:** Wow...someone likes my story...

**BoltFire:** *Face-Hoof* Dude, did you already forget all the views and favorites this story has?

**Author:** Well, so far four people have favorited the story, six people are following it (or me) like stalkers and its gotten 522 views...

**BoltFire:** See? Do you think all those people (or other species) would read if they didn't like this?

**Author:** ...well they could just be passing the time...

**BoltFire:** Ugh, stop that. Anyway, we're getting off topic. Onto the next reviewer.

**In reply to: Dragonfang20**

**Author:** Thanks! And yeah, she may come off like that but she's actually a pretty cool mare. I have been given permission by her creator to go along with the idea I have so this story isn't going to get boring anytime soon!

**BoltFire:** Oi! Don't say that! The universe almost made you not post the last chapter! Good thing Pinkie was there to...are you...blushing?

**Author:** Um...no?

**BoltFire:** -_- ...is there something that I shouldn't know happening between you and one of my friends?

**Author:** O_O WHAT?! Where the hell did you come up with that?!

**BoltFire:** One, you're blushing like mad. Two, you only started when I mentioned Pinkie. And three, you over-reacted just now. What happened?

**Author:** Well look at the time! Time to ship out a new chapter!

**BoltFire:** Hey! Don't just cut me of-

**Disclaimer: I do not own My Little Pony, or anything that I make reference to in this FanFic, those belong to their respective owners. I do own BoltFire and any other OC's that appear unless otherwise mentioned.**

**Author:** Also, BIG shout out to my first four favoriters! Those four are:

Poke-lover (The first to favorite me!), bronydudeshadow, Miffdogga, and Dragonfang20.

You guys are buckin' awesome!

**BoltFire:** ...you do know I'll find out when I read the previous chapter, right?

**Author:** ...SNEAK ATTACK!

**BoltFire:** What the hell are you do-GAH!

***BoltFire falls to the floor unconscious***

**Author:** Phew...safe for a couple hours. Now, without further delay, the seventh chapter.

**F.Y.I.: Until further notice, thoughts shall be in [Brackets] and _Italics..._I'm pretty sure I said that before...oh well, chapter time!**

**OC's so far: **

**BoltFire: Mine**

**Double Pump: A friend's from school.**

**Chapter** **7: The Job and Awkward Moments**

***BoltFire***

For what seems like the fifteenth time today, I ask myself ,and the pony next to me, the same question.

"Um...Pinkie...What the hell is that...?"

The mare in question, as usual, doesn't answer me. Instead, she just smiles a little bigger than the last time I asked her.

I'm standing outside of Ponyville with Pinkie next to me while we're staring at...I don't even know how to describe it. From a distance, it looked like a solid wooden block. Up close? LOTS and lots of different pieces overlapping each other but with some distance between them.

She speaks up for the first time since we arrived in front of this...thing "It's a maze, silly! You run through it!"

I tilt my head "But why? What's the point?"

Pinkie just rolls her eyes "Because the author messed up and started to delete this part but decided to see where it goes, now run!"

I open my mouth to say something but close it almost immediately. I learned from all of my other friends to not question Pinkie logic. I even learned that first hand a couple days ago when we went to Fluttershy's cottage. With a sigh, I look back at the monstrosity before me.

_[How did I get roped into this? Oh yeah..._'that'_ happened...]_

**(Earlier that day...)**

I woke up in the usual manner, slightly tired from staying up all night with Luna, but rested enough to get through the day. This time, however, I had a feeling that today was going to be...off, for lack of a better word. It first started to head down that route when I walked into the upstairs bathroom to clean myself up and answer nature's daily call.

While washing my hooves, I looked in the mirror to see a couple rebellious patches of hair sticking up at odd angles. Thinking nothing of it, I go to work on getting them back to their original spots. I was so focused on quelling the rebellious patches that I didn't hear the door open, nor did I see the only other pony that lives in the house through the mirror. It's only till I hear the sound of running water that I notice I'm not alone.

I slowly turn to the sound, only for a hoof to slap me hard enough to turn me towards the door. I'm then sent flying through the door by what feels like a buck to my hind quarters. I hit the wall with my back and slide down till I'm resting on my neck. I look the way I just came out of to see a pissed Double Pump with her mane clinging to her body and a small amount of red across her muzzle. Before I can say anything, she slams the door and leaves me upside down on the floor. I sigh, saying something to no-one in particular "Hell of a way to start the day, huh?"

I pick myself up, shake myself a little, and head down to the kitchen. The light from the sun reveals things that are normally hidden by shadows. All of the appliances are stainless steel while the island is made of granite and the table, chairs, and cabinets are made of what looks like elm. All in all, a pretty good looking kitchen.

I make my usual breakfast, mainly just an apple, toast, and a glass of juice or water. However, the apple was...occupied, the toast burnt rather quickly, and the juice was expired...

Forecast for this week? Sunny with a chance of 'not my day'.

I clean up what I can, don't want my landlord having a fit...well, no more than she has already. Anyway, after I clean up I leave for my first day of work at Sweet Apple Acres.

I arrive with barely any time left. Applejack was waiting for me in front of the gate, so she could go over a few things before I get started.

"Now, the firs' thing ya need ta know is tha we're a bit...traditional, when it comes ta gittin our apples. So we'd appreciate it if ya don't fly up ta git 'em."

I cock my head to the right "Um...ok...how am I supposed to get them off the tree then?"

She smiles "Why, ya buck 'em of course."

Staaaaaare~

One of her eyebrows arches up a little "Ya know, kick the tree?"

Realization dawns on me...finally.

She goes over the proper procedure for kicking the tree, placing the buckets, and where to store them when the buckets are full. There's surprisingly a lot of math involved with bucking a tree. You can't just hit it as hard as you can, that'll either bruise or break the tree. You have to apply just the right amount of force on a spot at a certain angle to send enough vibrations up the tree to shake the apples loose. The apples fall almost in the same spot as to where their hanging so all you really need to do is line them up as best you can and hope they don't bruise.

She first demonstrates what she told me and ended up getting all the apples to fall into the baskets on the first buck. Not a single one fell out of a basket. She then sets up a group of baskets under another tree so that all I had to worry about was getting the apples to fall. My first kick managed to get about half of the apples to fall, kicking again caused the rest to fall.

She tips her hat up a little, a slightly impressed smirk adorning her features"Huh, tha right there's actually pretty good fer ya firs time. Keep at it an ya'll be able ta knock 'em all down in one go. Anyway, ah need ya ta buck about thir'y more trees fer now. When yer done, just come find me an ah'll have yer pay ready."

I nod and she leaves. For the next couple hours, I continue bucking and storing the apples in the barn. The first group of trees wasn't so bad, but after that it felt like I was bucking boulders. As I set the last bushel down, my legs finally give out from underneath me. I lay there for a couple minutes, catching my breath when Applejack walks up to me with a sack on her back "Ah take it yer done fer the day?"

I nod, not finding the energy to reply any other way.

She smirks "Well, ya did good fer ya firs time. Ah actually didn' think ya'd do it all in one day. Anyway, here's yer pay fer the day."

**(A/N: Lol, Rhyming.)**

She picks up the sack and lays it down in front of me. By now I had enough strength to get up and sit down. I pick up the brown bag **(A/N: Again, how the hell can that happen with hooves? You know what? Screw it, magic's involved.)** and notice the considerable amount of weight the small thing has. Opening the sack reveals quite a lot of bits within. I look at Applejack slightly confused, she notices and explains.

"Ah paid ya 'bout ten bits per tree. An' seein' how ya didn' complain none durin', ah threw in a lil extra."

A small smile grows on me as I look at my boss and friend "Thanks, Applejack. Is there anything else you need done?"

Her smirk turns to a friendly smile "Heh, wantin' ta work more, huh? Sorry, but ah don' got anythin' else needin' ta be done. Why don'cha go home an git some rest, ya'll gonna need it fer tommara."

I nod and we go our separate ways. On my way back to Double's house, I let my mind wander around for a bit. Not necessarily the best thing to do when I should be focused on not running into anyone, but at the time I didn't really mind. It's only until I run into a certain pink party pony that I realize I should have paid attention.

Pinkies head suddenly appears in my line of vision. "Hey Bolty!"

Her appearance wrenches me from my thoughts "Huh? Oh, hey Pinkie."

She tilts her head a bit, the ever contagious smile of hers present as always "What'cha doin'?"

Her question brings a slight smile to my face, much to her enjoyment "Nothing much, just heading home so I can get some rest."

"Well forget about that for now. I need your help with something."

I cock my head and raise an eyebrow "Oh? and what would that be?"

* * *

**(Back to the present...)**

_[Note to self, NEVER look a mare in the eyes when they use that sad-puppy look...]_

I shake my head and look at the...extremly out of place object before me. I sigh and glance at Pinkie once more before running through the...well, it's not necessarily a maze in the standard sense. More like an obstacle course with multiple routes to the finish, but cut out of a large cube of wood. Running through it wasn't really as hard as it seemed, but it was _much_ longer than it looked. It took me about half an hour to get through the entire thing. I pause to catch my breath before turning to Pinkie "So...haa...what was the...haa...point of this?"

Pinkie tilts her head to the side and gives me a questioning look "Point? What point? I don't see a point anywhere. Why are you sweating?"

My eye twitches "Pinkie, why else would I be sweating?! You just made me run through that...monstrosity?"

Looking behind her reveals...nothing. Absolutely nothing. It's like that _thing_ never existed to begin with. And no matter how many times I try to stop myself, I always try to make sense of the enigma-of-a-pony next to me...resulting in me babbling most of the time "hu...bu...wha...ho...whe...?"

She giggles at my, admittingly, stupid expression "Tee-hee, you're so funny. We should hang out again real soon. Right now, I have to meet somepony about something. See ya later, Bolty!"

And with that, she vanishes. Not letting me have the slimmest chance to respond. In my current state of mind, I couldn't have responded even if I wanted to.

After a minute or two, I shake my head and continue where I left off. This time I don't let my mind wander but I still run into someone about two-thirds of the way back. Well, I didn't actually run into them, they sorta ran into me. Which resulted in them getting knocked to the ground.

"Oof!"

_[Mommy? I see stars, shouldn't they be in the sky?]_

I shake my head and look at who I ran into. I was actually surprised to see it was Derpy that I ran into "Oh my gosh, are you alright?"

She gets up and shakes her head "Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry for running into you mister...Oh!"

Her eyes widen as if she just realized who she ran into "I'm so sorry I ran into you! I wasn't looking where I was going and-"

Predicting that this would have lasted a lot longer than it should, I gently put my hoof on her mouth, effectively silencing her "It's ok. I should have paid more attention to my surroundings, so if either of us should apologize, it should be me. Your not hurt, are you?"

She blushes a bit and shakes her head "No, I'm fine. I'm more worried about you, though."

I shake my head and smile "Don't be. It'll take more than bumping into a pretty mare to hurt me."

Sir, I would like to put a compliment into my account. Certainly, will that be all for tod-aaaand it's gone. Please move to the back of the line for further service.

It takes me a minute to realize what just came out of my mouth.

_[__Did...did I just say that out loud?__]_

Little did I know, she was thinking the same thing. Now, it's situations like these that are the most volatile. One wrong action or word could have the entire thing blow up in your face with no way of rectifying your mistake. Outcomes include, but are not limited to: Loss of friendship, being ran out of town, beaten by spectators, mauled by other's friends, etc.

So, we're standing there in the awkward silence, both of us with red faces, with no way of knowing how to continue the conversation. Fortunately for me, she speaks first "Do...do you mean that...?"

I blush a little harder, choosing my words before anything blows up on me "Um..."

Ah, thank you brain. The number one way to stall for time and/or cause everything to fall apart. I open my mouth again and an actual sentence escapes from my lips "Uh...yeah, I do."

Well, not exactly a sentence, but still more than my last attempt.

We both blush harder at this. Deciding I kept her long enough, (DEFINATELY not an escape plan) I speak up one last time for the day "Well...uh...I'll see you around."

Without waiting for a reply, I hurry off to Double's house. I admit, that was a stupid move, but what could I do at that point? When I get back to the house, I immediately head up to my room. I set my things down and lay on the bed, mulling over all that has happened today. Mostly just my last conversation.

_[Hmm...why did I say that to Derpy? Do I really think she's pretty? Well, I don't find her UN-attractive...could I be...nah, it's too early for that anyway.]_

I look out the window to see the sun starting to dip past the horizon.

_[Huh...guess I should head over to the library right now.]_

A sudden flash near my bags catches my attention. Laying against my bag is a small scroll with what looks like a dark blue ribbon adorned with a crescent moon holding it in place. I pick up the scroll, open it, and begin to read.

_Dear BoltFire,_

_Forgive me for not being able to meet at the usual spot, but a rather pressing matter has come to my attention. I will not be able to meet with you for the next week or so. However, when I do have enough time I would like to invite you and your friends to the castle for lunch._

_Your friend,_

_Luna_

_P.S. This may sound like an odd question, but do you know anything about a...how do I describe it...an obstacle course like thing carved out of a cube? i just walked into the castle gardens to find it looming above me. Any information would be appreciated. Anyway, I hope to see you soon!_

I chuckle at the post script.

_[So that's where it went, guess I'm not crazy after all.]_

Seeing as I had nothing planned for later tonight, I decided to go to bed early. A final wish going out to my friends before I fall asleep.

_[Sweet dreams everyone.]_

* * *

**A/****N: And there's the seventh chapter. Tell me what you guys think. Also, my school has decided to not allow me to continue writing during class even though I completed all of my work for the day. Sigh, such is the life of a writer. Don't want me to be a god in my own little world...anyway, these chapters may be coming out later than usual, but I won't take three months for it to happen! Also, Bolt seems to still be unconsious from earlier, so I may be safe for another chapter.**

**Rule of the day:**

**_"The more beautiful and pure a thing is, the more satisfying it is to corrupt it."_ - Rule 43**

**Me:** Why is this the rule of the day you ask? Well, I'm the author and I felt it was relevent...ok, it's not. But I still find it to be true.

**Pinkie:** *Walks into room and throws forelegs around my shoulders* Aw, don't be like that. It's relevent if you want it to be.

**Me:** *Blush~* Um...P-pinkie...what are you doing?

**Pinkie:** *Tilts head to the side* What? Can't I give my favorite human a hug every now and then?

**Me:** *Blush deepening* Um...that's fine...but why am I your favorite human?

**Pinkie:** *Smile spreads as she nuzzles my neck* Cause your so soft, and nice, and make a good pillow. Also, we're in an alternate dimension from all the other Pinkie's and Nick's, so I can like whoever I want.

**Me****:** *Blink* L-like...? As in...

**Pinkie:** *Blush~* Did I say that out loud? Tee-hee, guess I did. Anyway, yeah. As in like-like.

**Me:** *Hugs Pinkie close* You are just too cute! Well, guess this is the end of another chapter. Pinkie, would you like to sign us out?

**Pinkie:** *Giggles and nuzzles my cheek* Sure, then later we can spend some time together. This is Pinkie Pie, signing out for Nick...I mean Dark-Wings! Have a good weekend, everypony!


	8. Chapter 8: Trouble, Both Near and Far

**A/N: Wazzup all? Back again for another chapter. Teachers can't get after me for using Microsoft word, so I _should_ be in the clear for now…don't know why I didn't think about doing this until just now. Anyway, I am still waiting for more reviews. It's not like no-one reads this, I see the views so I must be doing _something_ right…right? Personally, I don't like how the last chapter turned out. I'm most likely going to edit that over the weekend. Oh and here's some updates on my other stories. My Pokémon one is still in the shop…haven't even touched it, to be honest. I'm also coming out with a TouHou project one that I've wanted to do for a while. To those who are wondering when things will _truly_ get 'M' rated, I'll probably do something this chapter. Not any hardcore stuff, but some suggestive stuff nonetheless. As to whom my character goes with, I have yet to make up my mind. Heh, I remember having this same problem a long time ago (a couple months ago) and I had some indirect help from someone to just put that dilemma in the story.**

**Oh! And before I forget, what do you guy's think of the 'side-story' between the author and Pinkie? The amount of answers contributes to how many fucks I give whether or not you approve…its simple math really. Say, 90 people approve while 84 people disapprove. Subtract the two then multiply by my original amount of fucks available.**

**Here is the equation: (A (# of Approve) + (-B) (Integer of # of Disapprove))*C (Amount of fucks to give)**

**And this is what plugging in the variables looks like: (90+ (-84)) 0**

**This boils down to a big, fat goose egg. So, in essence, the total should explain to the viewers that I could care less what they think. Advice is welcome and criticism is always accepted as long as flames are not thrown and spam stays where it belongs, forgotten in its can at the back of the top shelf in the pantry. Any flames thrown will be caught and played with before being rolled on and extinguished.**

**BoltFire: **That was a little harsh.

**Me: **Meh, I honestly don't care. My love life, not theirs.

**BoltFire: **Still, that doesn't really seem like something to be a dick about. And why did you knock me out when it was something as little as liking Pinkie?

**Me: **Well…it's gone a little farther than that...

**Pinkie: ***Leaps out of nowhere and glomps me from behind* Nick! You're writing again! That means we can spend more time together!

**BoltFire:** W-what?! Pinkie?! Where did you…you know what, never mind. *Turns to me* And what does she mean by the last part?

**Me:** Well, apparently when I don't write, this part of the multi-verse doesn't continue existing. Therefore, all actions and activities are put on standby, like with your coma which was supposed to be just a five-day thing.

**BoltFire:** Whoa…weird.

**Me:** Yeah, if you want to know more, talk to Doctor Whooves in Ponyville. He's a chestnut stallion with an hourglass for a cutie mark. However take care; there is another stallion that looks exactly like the Doctor. The only way to differentiate is to ask about a thing called "The Tardis". If the one you're speaking to has absolutely no idea what you're talking about, then you got the wrong guy.

**BoltFire:** Ah, okay. Thanks for the tip.

**Me:** No prob. Well, time for the next chapter anyway. *Grabs a coin and tosses it into the air* Pinkie, Heads or tails!

**Pinkie:** Side-ways!

**BoltFire/Me:** Ha! There's no way-

*The coin lands side-ways and balances perfectly*

**BoltFire:** O_o

**Me:** …fine…go ahead and do the disclaimer.

**Pinkie:** Yay! Nick doesn't own 'My Little Pony' or anything that is referenced in this fic. All OC's are his unless stated otherwise either here, or at the bottom. He does however completely own BoltFire. He also owns me, but in a _different_ way.

**BoltFire: **0x0 *Faints from lack of correct blood circulation*

**Me:** *Rubs forehead*…god dammit Pinkie. Quit hanging out with Moly.

**Pinkie:** ;p

Thoughts are in [Brackets] and _Italics_. Random A/N stuff are in (These) and **Bolded**. Scenes in a film are in {whatever these are} and _Italics_. Brain activity is in \These/ and _Italics_.

**Chapter 8: Trouble, Both Near and Far**

**~Luna~**

_[Ugh…sooooooo boooored…]_

It has been a couple of hours since I sent BoltFire the letter and, as my thoughts portray, I'm bored. I'm sitting on my throne in Canterlot, listening to a report that Tia apparently finds important. So far, it's nothing exciting. Just a drunken brawl here and a petty theft there. I mean, the last thing that we had to _truly_ worry about was just a drought in Appaloosa. Easily fixable, a quick spell and poof we're done. Half way through the guard's report I zoned out, letting my mind wander to more interesting topics.

_[Hmm…I wonder what BoltFire is doing right now…probably sleeping, what with him having a job and all. Maybe we can do something after this whole thing is over. Seriously, what did Tia think was so important that would take weeks to resolve?]_

"-and finally, we've been getting reports of Changeling sightings deep in the Everfree Forest."

_[…Target=Brain, Command=Replay last sentence, Sub-target=Guard Report.]_

_\-and finally, we've been getting reports of changeling sightings deep in the Everfree Forest./_

_[…Dammit Tia! Why couldn't you have told me about this before I had to endure this painfully boring speech?! …oh yeah, she's a troll…payback later, panic inside now.]_

On the inside I'm freaking out, remembering all that happened the last time the Changelings took over. On the outside, however, I'm calm and holding a stoic expression "Are you sure, Captain?"

He nods "Positive Princess. Our sources have all been checked for illnesses and their histories don't show any signs of hallucinations or being senile. At first, the local guard thought that it was just a horrible joke, but as more and more state that they saw similar things, they decided to at least put it in their report. I have heard that they sent a search party to see what they could find. No word yet on whether they were successful or not."

I nod slowly, careful not to let any emotion show "Is that all, Captain?"

He checks his report to see if he missed anything "Yes, that's all that needed to be said, Princess."

I wave a hoof towards the door "Then you are dismissed."

He bows low "As you wish, Princess."

I sit there almost statue-like as I wait for him to leave. As soon as the door closes behind him, I immediately set out to find my trolling sister. I don't have to go far, she just happens to be in the next room sipping some chamomile tea. She sets her tea down and turns to me with a radiant smile, as if there's nothing wrong with the world "So, how was it?"

My left eye twitches a couple times "How was it? What do you _mean_ how was it?! I know you had to sit through it already, so why don't _you _tell me how it was?!"

She puts on a thoughtful expression while tapping her chin with a hoof "Well, it was awfully boring, so I just decided to listen to more interesting things. Like, what the other guards are thinking, raunchy, but I've heard better; what Twilights thinking, and I must say, what an _interesting_ thing that was; and finally, what _you_ were thinking." At this point, she has one of her ever-present shit-eating grins "I never knew he would be on your mind like _that_."

I stare at her with wide eyes, a blush creeping through my dark blue fur "You did what?! Ugh, never mind. So you _didn't_ hear the last bit of the report?"

She tilts her head "Why would I? It's awfully boring, so what's the point?"

At that point, I think something snapped inside my skull "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN WHAT'S THE POINT?! CHANGELINGS HAVE BEEN SPOTTED IN THE EVERFREE FOREST AND YOU DON'T THINK IT'S IMPORTANT?! WHY THE HELL DID YOU TELL ME I HAD TO STAY HERE FOR A COUPLE OF WEEKS IN THE FIRST PLACE ANYWAY?!"

It's only after I get that out of my system do I realize that I was using the Royal Canterlot voice…really need to get that under control. Well, suffice it to say that my sister was shocked at the news. I would have laughed at her expression were this not a serious moment.

She slams her cup on the table, nearly shattering it "What?! When was this and why wasn't I informed?!"

I face-hoof, hard "It was in the report that you failed to listen to."

A small blush forms "…oh" She shakes her head before continuing "Anyway, the reason I'm having you stay here for the next couple of weeks is because of what's happening in those weeks."

I tilt my head "What? What's happening?"

She deadpans "…seriously? You're telling me that you honestly forgot what begins in the next couple of hours?"

I start to get a little ticked "What are you talking about?! Nothings happen-…oh shit."

She puts on a look of mock disgust "Luna, where are your manners? It's unbecoming for a Princess to curse in the presence of others."

I glare at her "Hey, you'd curse too if you just realized what _event_ is happening soon."

She chuckles a bit "I know. I'm just messing with you, Luna." She then puts on a look of genuine concern "The real reason for me keeping you here is that I just don't want to see my baby sister laden before she is truly ready."

***BoltFire***

Even though I've only been to my job once, I seem to have developed a routine. Get up, answer nature, eat, work, random event, home, eat, sleep, and repeat. Well, I haven't done the entire routine yet, but I'm close.

I just got off work and am heading back to town. Today wasn't as bad as yesterday, sure my muscles are sore but at least I didn't collapse face first into the ground. I actually think I'm getting a little toned from all the tree bucking and basket carrying.

Anyway, I'm taking my time walking back and just take in the beautiful surroundings. I even stopped and smelt the roses, guess I should listen to proverbs more often, huh?

Usually when I walk around, I see at least one or two foals running around, either heading to a friend's house, or to the park to meet up with others. Today, however, I didn't see any of the little ones running about. Actually, I didn't see any pony out at all. No one at the market, all the stores are closed, no Pegasi in the sky, not even Spike was outside running errands for Twilight.

_[Okay…this is a little creepy…why do I get the feeling that I'm being watched…?]_

Turning in all directions reveals no one at all. The only sign of life coming from the wind blowing a…what the hell is a tumble-weed doing here? The wind itself making an eerie wail through the otherwise quiet town, effectively creating a suspenseful atmosphere.

_[Why can't I shake this feeling something bad is going to happen…?]_

A small but audible shuffle emanates from my left. I turn and am greeted by a dark alley-way. Unsure of what to do, I slowly creep towards the entrance to the foreboding path. As I get closer, my heart beats faster, reminding me that I am very much alive. The dead can't feel fear; if they could then they wouldn't be taking millennia long naps.

I stop at the entrance, sweat trickling down my brow. I'm suddenly grabbed and dragged into the alley! I start to shout but something covers my mouth.

A harsh whisper warms my ear…kinda creepy "Shh! Do you want them to hear you?!"

I look at who grabbed me and see a black earth pony stallion that couldn't be over twenty. Seeing as how it was dark, I couldn't really make out any more details other than his race. He slowly uncovers my mouth, apparently trusting me enough to speak quietly.

I back up into a wall and glare at where I just was "What the hell are you talking about? Who are they?!"

I think I heard him look left and right, in fear of someone or something hearing me "Not so loud, bro. Their hearing is very sensitive this month."

_[Bro…?] _"What do you-" I'm cut off by a hoof and the outline of another pointing out the alley.

I look and see a light yellow mare with a mane of cobalt and fuchsia looking around as if she's lost or trying to find someone. I think her name was Sweetie drops, or was it Bon-Bon? Either way, she looks like she could use some help.

I start to walk towards her when the stallion grabs me and pulls me back "Are you crazy?! She'll eat you alive!"

I break free from his grip "What the hell is your problem?! Can't you see that she looks lost? She could be scared out of her mind for all you know!"

He winces "Not so loud! They have very-"

"STALLIONS!"

"…good hearing. RUN YOU FOOL! RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!"

With that, he bolts out of cover and runs to places unknown. I turn back to the mare I was going to help and immediately notice something wrong. Instead of trotting over to ask for directions, she's galloping full speed towards me. Instead of scared, innocent eyes I see insane, hungry, lust-filled eyes.

My pupils dilate and my stomach flip "…oh shit."

I immediately turn tail and book it across town, Bon-Bon/Sweetie Drops hot on my hooves. After a couple of minutes running for my life (and my health) I turn my head to see if I lost her. I yelp at the scene behind me, which causes me to run faster than I was before. At first there was just one mare trying to jump my bones, now there's about ten or twelve chasing me.

I tilt my head lower to gain more speed, all the while thinking I'm forgetting something "Shit shit shit shit shit! What the hell is going on here?!"

As I round a corner, I'm tackled into an open doorway.

"AH! GET OFF OF-orph?!"

My mouth is covered by a hoof that I can't see.

"I HEARD HIM GO THIS WAY!"

My eyes widen in fear as I turn them back to the open door, just in time to see a wave of mares pass by it. After a minute I let out a relieved sigh, only to remember I'm still being held by an unknown pony.

There was enough light for me to make out the features of my savior/executioner. First thing I noticed was the pony was stockier than the mares so I assumed he was stallion. Then I started recognizing features.

_[Wait a minute...I think I've seen him before...Big Mac?] _I open my mouth to say something but he just quickly shakes his head, gesturing to the open door. Getting what he meant, I immediately shut up and nod my head. Thanks can wait until we're safe.

We creep to the door and check to see if any mares are in the area, thankfully none are. We start to make our way to the town limits by jumping from shadow to shadow. Only revealing ourselves when there are no spectators in the general area. After what seems like hours, we arrive at the limits. I turn to thank him for the assist but he shakes his head again and gestures for me to follow him.

We continue our silent walk, all the while constantly on the look-out for any mares that may have followed us. After a half hour of walking, we approach what looks like a tiny run-down shed at the edge of the forest.

I stand there as he walks to the side of it and presses something on the wall. A click is heard and the door silently slides over revealing a long staircase into unknown depths.

Looking back towards Ponyville shows several groups of Pegasi scouring around for sign of any males. Let's just say that was enough to make me dive into the abyss without really thinking of how much pain would be involved.

"Ow! Fuck! Damn it! Fuck! Shit! Ack! Gah!"

Yeah…bouncing down what I later find out to be five flights of stairs is not fun. As I lay there, I hear Big Mac walking calmly behind me. I turn to him and he nods, signaling we can talk now.

I slowly peel myself of the floor, surprisingly made of metal "First off, ow. Remind me to never do that again. Secondly, Thanks for saving me earlier. And finally, what the hell is going on?"

He nods "Well, 'n order: Sure, No Problem, an' estrous."

I tilt my head at the slightly familiar word at the end.

Big Mac rolls his eyes "Matin' season"

My eyes widen at that. My brain immediately doing calculations of survival in that town right now.

_\Stallion to Mare ratio is close to 1:12, no other stallions present equals total female population of Ponyville to one male, thus equaling roughly 1:173, chances of surviving the orgy that ensues: 0.0000000000000000000000000001 % , jewel strength afterwards (if survived): Reduced to dust. Male status: Terminated./_

_[...Celestia's beard, that would've been bad...Wait, what the hell did I just say? Where did that even come from?]_

I shake myself from my thoughts and focus back on Big Mac "So, how long are we stuck here?"

"Fer a couple o' weeks. I' should be safe ta come out after autumn."

I'm about to reply when I feel a tap on my leg. Looking down reveals the little purple dragon, Spike.

"Holy crap, Spike! I was wondering where you went."

He shrugs "All us males come here when mating season comes around. The only ones who stay in Ponyville lock themselves up in their homes with their wives."

I tilt my head "All of us?"

Almost immediately the area around me lights up, revealing that we weren't alone. Not only were all the stallions of Ponyville present, but also every male animal that resides in Ponyville. Even Gummi's in here.

_[Huh, we got bears, beavers, bunnies...ah crap! Angel's here! Huh? And a turtle with what looks like a propeller on its back...it's now flying...Bad. Ass.]_

I look past all of them and notice that were not just in a metal cube. I see hall-ways leading to separate areas as well as signs telling what's down what path. From what I can tell, there's a bar, rec. room, barracks, and...a learning center? Before I can say anything, a dark grey pegasus with a white-streaked cyan mane walks in front of me "You must be the new guy. Sorry for not informing you of what's happening. We've all been kinda busy saving our own asses. Lucky for you Big Macintosh is almost always the last to head over here."

I nod "And you are...?"

He sticks his hoof out "Oh, sorry. I'm Thunderlane."

I take it (somehow) and shake his hoof. "BoltFire."

He nods "Now that introductions are out of the way, I need to brief you on a couple things." He says this while walking towards the area marked as 'Learning Center'.

I tilt my head in confusion "What is this, a sanctuary or the army?"

This causes some to chuckle while others just nod grimly. Guess it can be both around here.

* * *

**(Warning: The following scene portrays actions not appropriate for younger audiences. If you are under the age of eighteen or have the mind of an adolescent, please skip ahead to the next line similar to the one above this warning. Thank you for your co-operation and have a nice day.)**

Having nothing else to do, I followed Thunderlane to this 'Learning Center'.

The interior looks a lot like a normal classroom, what with a teacher's desk next to a black-board, enough desks and chairs for about twenty-five students, a film-projector with a film-reel attached to it, and a pull-down screen for films. Thunderlane Immediately starts moving the projector to the front, so I decided to just pick a seat to not bother him. I didn't really go _all_ the way to the back, but I wasn't exactly in the middle either.

Thunderlane finishes placing the projector and writes something on the board before addressing me "Now, what do you know about mating season?"

_[That's a kind of odd question…what do I know…well, other than mares going crazy, not much.] _"Not much."

He nods "I figured as much, what with you losing your memory and all."

_[FINALLY! Someone who doesn't forget that!]_

He could probably see what I was thinking from my expression "Heh, us males gotta stick together. So it doesn't really help to not know anything about each other." He walks toward the door leading back where we came and flicked a switch, causing the room to fall into a small amount of darkness. He then makes his way over to the projector, turning it on with the flick of a switch "Anyway, my briefing shall be in the form of a slightly long presentation. Roughly an hour or two, depending on whether or not this old thing can hold up. Just a heads up, you are about to see the result of what happens if your caught out there. We haven't heard from the guy who volunteered for…actually, never since this was filmed. Anyway, if you need anything, check the desk you are seated in. When the video finishes, just head back to the central hub for further instruction."

With that, he leaves and shuts the door. What's odd is that he locked it as well.

_[Sure there's a tumbler on my side so I'm not locked in, but why would he-oh! It's starting.]_

Sure enough, a number countdown on the film has reached zero and the first scene plays out.

**(All of the details are in black and white, with no sound. Why would ponies be advanced enough for color and sound? Well, Manehattan's probably, but not Ponyville residents.)**

_{An earth-pony stallion is standing in the middle of Ponyville with a look of acceptance. The angle of the shot suggesting this was filmed from a high perspective, probably by a pegasus. A noise to the left catches the stallion's attention as he is waiting for…something. He turns only to be tackled to the ground by a mare. The camera shakes a little as if the one holding it was not expecting that. The picture gets fuzzy as it zooms in towards the two before refocusing. A close up of the two shows the mare laying on the stallion, her ass in his face and her tongue sliding up and down his sheath.}_

My eyes widen.

_[What the hell am I watching?! Well, Thunder _did _say this was during a mating-season and that this guy was a volunteer…I don't know whether to be jealous of the lucky bastard or mourn over his loss.]_

_{By now the stallion is at full attention and the mare is slamming their hips together. They seem to be enjoying it and the stallion cums inside the mare. Instead of getting off him, she continues, faster than before. The look of pleasure on the stallion slowly morphing into pain. This continues four or five more times until the mare is satisfied and falls asleep next to him. He begins to get up but is tackled back down by another mare. It seems as if his previous endeavors has attracted the attention of others, two more mares arrive on the scene and join in on the action. This continues cycling, him satisfying the mares and attempting to leave only to be stopped by one or more others, for hours until all that's left is a pile of bodies surrounding him. The film skips ahead to the next morning, but from a different angle, this time at ground level. One by one, the mares get up and go about their daily business as if the orgy never happened. Later, only one body remains on the ground, the stallion from earlier. The camera shakes a little as it's put down on its side. Another stallion appears, apparently the camera-holder who's a pegasus, and quickly goes over to the one lying on the ground. He can be seen shaking the first as if to rouse him from a dream. After a minute or two, he steps back and shakes his head while a tear falls from his face. It skips ahead to the guy's funeral before cutting to black.}_

Even though the film ended, I continue staring at the screen. Just now remembering what Thunder said, I decide to look in the desk and see what's in there.

I slam the desk shut after seeing the only two items in there. Lotion and tissues.

I calmly get up, shut off the projector, and head towards the door.

* * *

I walk out of the room with eyes the size of dinner plates and a faint blush on my face. I believe my left eye was twitching on the way out. Some of the others had sympathetic looks, one of which being Spike.

For the next few weeks **(Yes, I'm too lazy to write down what happened in those two-three weeks. All it would be is a blur anyway.)**, I hardly say anything. Only responding with grunts and some head gestures, rarely taking part in any activities available. After mating season finishes, I walk back to Double's house, unlock and lock the door, head up to my room, and sleep. Not having any thought, other than feeling sorry for the guy who got pleasured to death.

**A/N: As always, tell me what you all think. This is my first time writing something like this, so don't hate me if it sucks. Anyway, reviews would be greatly appreciated (Seeing as I only have three...), and I could use any help you guys (or girls) have to offer.**

**OC's so far:**

**BoltFire – Mine**

**Double Pump – A friend's character**

**Pinkie – Still Hasbro's but she feels as if I own her in _another_ way…at least in this sector of the universe...**

**Pinkie:** Ooh, that got me a little…

**Me:** No! Not now! I'm still in my classroom!

**BoltFire:** *Wakes up* Ugh, I had the strangest dream. *Points to me* You were in it and you were dating Pinkie.

**Pinkie:** Tee-hee, that wasn't a dream silly! And you're just in time to watch me and Nick have a little _fun_~

**BoltFire:** *Faints from hitting his head on the ceiling after becoming a blood rocket.*

**Me:** …rate and review! GAH! Not now Pinkie! W-what are you doing with your-ooh… *Scene fades to black*


	9. Chapter 9: The Squall of The Monsoon

**A/N: Holy crap, I'm on fire! Already on chapter 9, even though I just sent out 8. Alright, calm down, your material sucks when you get excited. (Deep breath in~)(Deep breath out~) Phew…now, announcements. Seeing as this fanfic is almost going into the tenth chapter, I have planned something special for all of you. After this, I will be working on a _ten-thousand_ word special! And it's all thanks to you guys for motivating me with all your views. Sniff, it makes me cry a little when I see all those views, favorites, and follows. I _never _expected this to happen in all my days of writing. Come to think of it, I only started writing as a form of release back in August of 2012. I originally intended it to just be a one-shot, but then a flood-gate of sorts broke out and I had to get rid of that to make room for this. I still have the original on a flash-drive so I can upload that after this finishes. Still no reviews, but that's okay. You guys (and ladies) have more than made up for those in views. Right now, the tally is 789. 789! If I had known this would be so popular, I would have updated sooner. Well, it may be at the bottom of the chain here on FanFiction, but to me it means it's popular. I thank you all from the bottom of my heart. Also, there's another stalker followin' me and/or the story. I don't care which one it is, I'm just happy that people like my stuff. Kind of an ego boost for a guy with severe depression… TwT You guys are fucking awesome!**

**BoltFire:** Why the hell are you putting out long author's notes?

**Me:** Because I've been touched. The audience has touched me, and I'm pretty sure I've touched them.

**BoltFire:** One, that sounded dirty. Two, You took that from "School of Rock". Three, Awesome movie which we don't own.

**Me:** …Why did you have to say that? I would have put it in the disclaimer. *Holds arms out for no reason*

_*R.D.N. (Random Dolphin Noises)*_

**Pinkie:** *COD Black ops style Dolphin dive into waiting arms* He-he-he! That was FUN!

**BoltFire:** *Jumps back a few feet* Gah! Pinkie, where the hell did you come from?!

**Pinkie:** *Tilts her head* Well, when a stallion and a mare love each other reeeeeeeeeaaally much-

**Me:** Stop right there, we already agreed that I would have the talk with him.

**BoltFire:** *Holds head in hooves* Ugh, you two know what I mean.

**Pinkie:** *Concerned look* What's wrong, Bolty? Why are you so moody?

**BoltFire:** Why? I'll tell you why. *Points hoof at me* This asshole made me go through hell for no apparent reason!

**Me:** Hey, in my defense it was Thunderlane that failed to inform you on what was happening.

**BoltFire:** *Eye twitch* That doesn't matter! _You_ are the author and _you_ are the one that decides this shit! Fuck this. If you need me, I'll be waiting in the next room *Slams door *

**Me:** …I may have gone a bit too far with the last chapter.

**Pinkie:** *Shakes her head and hugs me tight* No, you did what you had to do. He was straying too far from what you wanted him to be. Don't worry, he'll get over it.

**Me:** *Stares at pink mare, smile forming on my face* Yeah, you're right. Heh, I would say that I didn't expect you to be this loving, but with randomness comes all other types of personalities. *Hugs pinkie tighter* Just for that, you can do the disclaimer.

**Pinkie:** *Kisses cheek* You're so sweet. Anyway, Nick doesn't own 'My Little Pony' or anything referenced to in this chapter. He does own "Mr. moody-pants" who just left. He also owns me but only in this part of the Multi/Omni-verse and only in a certain way. Sadly, he doesn't in any other part.

**Chapter 9: The Squall of The Monsoon**

**~Luna~**

_[This is bad. This is reeeally bad.]_

I'm pacing back and forth in the throne room while 'Tia is sitting on her throne drinking tea. She sets down her cup and follows me with her eyes "Would you calm down Luna? Everything is going to be fine."

My left ear and right eye synchronize in twitching at that comment, I turn to my sister "Calm down?! How could I possibly calm down when the chance of a Changeling invasion is practically assured?!"

She taps her chin while looking towards the ceiling "Hmm, have you tried Chamomile tea? It'll work wonders for your nerves."

I glare at her "I don't want any tea! I want this to be done and over with!"

She smirks…oh how I hate that smirk. It always means something bad and/or embarrassing is going to happen "You just wanna meet back up with _Him,_ don't ya?" Called it.

I feel my face heat up and my glare intensifies "'Tia! This isn't the time for your jokes! This is serious!"

She starts cracking up…she's even rolling on the floor…laughing her flank off. She calms down after a couple of minutes, though "Oh, Luna. You need to lighten up. Nopony in their right minds would attack _right_ after mating season. It'd be suicide on their part. Especially when the mares couldn't find a mate." Her smirk from earlier starts to grow into what some of the guards have dubbed a 'Troll Face', meaning something even worse is coming.

I stopped her before she made the obvious comment "You may be right about the suicide part, 'Tia. But what about in the next week? By then all the mares would've calmed down enough for an attack to be possible."

Her infuriating grin turns to a small frown as she contemplates all that which could happen in the next week. Her frown turns back to a grin as she looks back at me "Well, then I'm glad we prepared for this type of thing."

I stop my pacing and stare at her "Huh?"

***BoltFire***

"C'mon, Bolt. You can talk to us. We're your friends, aren't we?"

_[You're right, Dashie. You are my friend. As well as all the others who have just invaded my land-lady's home.]_

I'm lying in bed, facing the wall opposite the door. All my friends have come once they heard from Spike how strangely I've been acting.

"Bolt, yer not actin' like yer usual self."

_[Please, Applejack…just go away. Leave me to wallow in my own sorrows.]_

"Bolt, please…your scaring all of us. If it's okay with you, were coming in."

_[Fluttershy…please don't…]_

My door opens, followed by the sound of hooves on wood. No-one says anything. I'm flipped over suddenly and my vision is filled with a straight pink mane and round, sad blue eyes.

"B-bolty…? C-come on…smile…please…for me…?"

_[Sigh…sorry, Pinkie. But I can't right now, there's nothing to smile about.]_

Of course, she didn't hear me. She just walks back with tears threatening to cascade down her face after a minute or two of searching for any signs of a smile. Now that Pinkie is no longer obstructing my view, I can see all who have gathered to see me. There's Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity, Twilight, and Spike. Also here, which I'm slightly surprised about, is my land-lady, Double Pump, Derpy, Big Mac, three small fillies, Thunderlane, and Angel…the hell is that asshole rabbit doing here?

After a minute of each of us staring at one another, I turn back over, causing Thunderlane to get ticked off.

"The hell is your problem?! All we're trying to do is cheer you up and you're just going to ignore us?!"

I nod, finding the silence to be soothing, apparently setting off someone else.

Fast rabbit chatter.

"Oh my! Angel, that's not very polite to say."

More chatter.

"Well…yes but-"

Even more chatter.

"Sigh…yes…"

I could _feel_ the little bastard's nod.

Someone steps towards my bed, causing me to slightly tense up so I don't get flipped. No contact was made, just words "Bolt…look at me…please…"

I sigh, and turn over, immediately coming face to face with beautiful golden eyes.

Without any type of warning, Derpy pulls me into a tight embrace. A few gasps emanate from the group and my eyes grow slightly wider. After a minute, I return the hug, allowing her warmth to spread throughout my body. We stay like that for about five minutes before we pull away, her eyes slightly moist and a small smile on her face.

_SMACK!_

Pain blossoms from my cheek as I stare at the wall on my right. I look back at Derpy while lightly touching where she struck me, causing the pain to flare a little. She was crying now, the flood gates having been released the moment her hoof connected "What the hell is wrong with you?! All we want to do is help! We're your friends; you can always talk to us when something's bothering you! So swallow your sadness, your pride, or whatever it is and tell us!" At this point, she turns her attention to the floor, sobbing slightly "Please…tell us what's wrong…I'm scared…"

She begins to cry harder in front of me, her tears glittering like stars as they fall towards the ground.

I stare at her, then the rest of my friends, and then back to her. I pull her into a hug and start to run a hoof down her mane, trying my hardest to sooth her "Please…don't cry. I'm just an idiot that figured out to late to turn to his friends."

She laughs in between sobs.

I continue holding her, as I look to the rest that have gathered "Sorry for making you all worry, I just wasn't thinking of how my friends would feel."

They nod and I turn my attention to the three fillies "And who are you? I think I've seen you three running around town in capes, but I'm not sure."

The three fillies step forward. The first, a yellow earth pony with eyes of a brilliant gamboge **(I don't know how to describe them, got this from the wiki.)**, red mane and a pink bow, speaks up "Hi, ah'm Applebloom. I've seen ya on the farm but never had a chance to meet'cha."

Hearing her voice made something click in my mind "Oh, so are you Applejack's sister, by any chance?"

She smiles and nods "Yup!"

The next of the three, a white unicorn with a light rose and lavender **(which _is_ a light purple, I checked. Don't question it!)** mane, steps forward "I'm Sweetie Belle, nice to meet you."

I nod and see Rarity smile out of the corner of my eye, giving me a clue as to who she's related to "So, are you Rarity's sister?"

Her green eyes go wide with astonishment "Yes! How did you know?!"

I chuckle "Lucky guess."

The last one, an orange pegasus with a reddish-purple mane and light purple eyes, steps up "Hey, I'm Scootaloo."

_[Heh, her attitude is very similar to someone I know, maybe...]_

A small smirk appears on my face, slightly irritating the spot I got hit "So, let me guess, your Dash's sister?"

The room falls into dead silence, the temperature noticeably dropping a few degrees. The fillies all have sad expressions while the others have looks of shock. I tilt my head, trying to figure out what's wrong, when Scootaloo speaks up "No...I'm an orphan...but it would be so cool to have Dash as a big sister!"

Applebloom and Sweetie Belle laugh and hug their friend, while the others release breaths that they didn't know they were holding. The mood gratefully lifting and the temperature rising back to normal.

I take a moment to look around at all who have gathered, immediately having a sense of deja'vu. Suddenly, it dawns on me.

_[Wait a mintue...this is almost like when I first woke up.]_

Sure enough, the scene before me was very similar, albeit with some differences. Rarity was eyeing all the drapes and colors of the room, most likely thinking what colors would go great in place of others. Dash was chatting with Thunderlane. Big mac ws keeping an eye on the three fillies, making sure they don't get into trouble. My land-lady was probably back in her room, Fluttershy was watching Pinkie, who was talking to Applejack, probably about business or something. As I look around, however, I notice that there is one pony missing, besides my land-lady "Hey, uh, anyone know where Derpy is?"

The looks I receive from that question range from surprised by the majority, to a 'seriously?' look from Twilight, awws from Applebloom and Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo scowling a little but still had a small smile, and finally a 'way to go' grin from Thunderlane. I tilt my head and begin to ask but stop when I feel movement against me. I look down and, cradled in my hooves, is a sleeping grey pegasus. Realizing who it is causes me to blush and some of the others to start laughing.

Big Mac then files out the fillies, groans coming from two of them, the other happily leaving the mooshy scene behind. Next to leave was Thunderlane, saying something about a thing he had to do. Finally, Twilight got the rest of them to leave. Basically letting me fend for myself with a cute sleeping pegasus who just fell asleep in my arms on my bed.

_[Well...um...what am I supposed to do? I'm sure she has family that are going to worry about her, seeing as what she told me at the party used to happen a lot.]_

She shifts a little in my grasp, finding a comfortable spot before going back to sleep.

_[But...what if she doesn't have anyone...then that would mean she's all alone in the world...crap, when I think of it like that, it seems like a dick move to wake her up and tell her to leave.]_

She hugs me a little tighter, almost as if she's afraid I'd vanish from her grasp.

_[...what if...I'm her only friend...]_

I lay down on my bed, careful not to wake the mare in my arms.

_[I guess...a nap wouldn't hurt...for now...]_

I then fall into the best sleep I've had since waking up the first day.

**+Celestia+**

Hello, my faithful subjects! It's me, your favorite wall-breaking princess, Celestia! Although, you probably already knew that from the scene transition. Anyway, I am here to talk about something important, as well as fill in the last of the five-hundred remaining words for the quota.

Now, first and foremost, I can look into alternate realities.

**Author:** How is that relevent to what you're supposed to say?

Whoops, sorry. Anyway, what I really ment to say is this: Equestria is coming into some hard times...

**Author:** ...don't you dare say-

That's what she said!

**Author:** ...you're on your own.

Aaw, where's your sense of humor? Anyway, this was a very emotional chapter. But, why the hell was he moping like that?

**Author:** Oh, well, he was just having a random case of the _'Idon'tgiveafucks'. _It happens to all of us.

...seriously?

**Author:** Yup.

...damn. *Draw a chalk mark under Author on a black board. Same one that has mine and Luna's score...he's leading me by twenty points...Lu-lu's still trailing by thirty.*

**Author;** So...what you wanna do for the last two hundred words?

*Shrug* Don't know...oh! I got it!

**Author:** I'm listening...

* * *

Normally at this time of day, Luna is doing one of two things. The first is, and I actually caught her doing this, is watch young BoltFire through a portal. Ha, and she doesn't know I watch her watch him through a portal of my own. Anyway, the other thing is play video games. Sadly, she is doing the second of the two. The good news? She's playing MineCraft. I tip-toe(hoof) till I'm right behind her. Right now, she is doing diamond runs in one of her many cave systems. So I wait for the perfect moment to strike, which comes sooner than I thought. My sister finds a pool of lava, but it's whats on the other side that gets our attentions.

There, resting right over the lava, is a decent sized group of diamond blocks. I could feel my little sister's excitement from seeing those, which makes what I do all the more satisfying. She set up a narrow stone bridge, opting for speed instead of stability. She starts swinging her pick, cueing me to strike.

I put my mouth close to her ear and make one, long, drawn-out syllable "SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS"

* * *

**Author:** So? How did it go?

...lets just say that a certain princess of the night is going to be at all the major gaming and anime conventions coming up.

**A/N: Well, never thought I'd get this out so early. Guess I really wanted to get to the special-edition chapter. Anyway, this is my easter gift to all you kick-ass readers! And please review. I can't improve without any input from you all.**


	10. Chapter 10: Dreams and Things

**A/N: Well, here it is. The tenth chapter of this fic. And just like I promised, ten-thousand words. At first, this thing scared me, making me think that I wouldn't finish. But I plowed through, barely finishing it today. During this, I will be experimenting with certain styles so if it sucks, please tell me. Action will be plentiful in here. Now, onto the reviews!**

**BoltFire:** …um, there aren't any.

**Me:** What?! No reviews? But…I worked so hard on the last two chapters…I even uploaded them in the same week!

**BoltFire:** Yeah, well there could be a number of reasons why that is.

**Me:** *Scoffing noise* Yeah, like they don't care about this story.

**BoltFire:** Damn it, dude! Enough of that demotivating bull-shit! We've already gone over this! If people didn't like it, then this story wouldn't have favorites. We also wouldn't have any followers (Stalkers), no-one would review, and it wouldn't have over a _thousand_ views! So stop with all this depressing shit and get it together.

**Me:** But why? What's the point? They don't tell me anything.

**BoltFire:** They most likely don't find anything wrong with the fic. And we aren't very well-known, so that could be a contributing factor to it.

**Me:** Well…you do have a point…

**BoltFire:** Of course I have a point! Why wouldn't I? And if you don't stop being mopy, then I'll just have to summon Pinkie here.

**Me:** You wouldn't...

**BoltFire:** Pinkie Pie.

**Me:** I'm warning you, stop this right now!

**BoltFire:** Pinkie Pie.

**Me:** No you fool! There's a reason I-

**BoltFire:** Pinkie-HOLD IT‼

**Me:** What?! What treachery is this?!

**BoltFire:** Someone reviewed!

**Me:** Let's answer, quickly!

**In response to Dragonfang20;**

**Me:** Thank you, I will continue to do my best. And yeah, I used to do the same thing when I had a Minecraft account.

**BoltFire:** You never did have one. You just borrowed someone else's so you could play it during one of your classes.

**Me:** Shh! They don't know that!

**BoltFire:** ...they do now.

**Me:** I'll delete you!

**BoltFire:** I'll finish what I was saying earlier!

**Me:** Gasp, you wouldn't da-

**BoltFire:** Pinkie-OBJECTION!

**Me:** What now, dammit!?

**BoltFire:** Another reviewer.

**Me:** ...

**In response to _BOTH_ posts from trolledkmj;**

**Me:** Thank you for the kind words, I was actually thinking of doing a side story about Scootaloo next that had nothing to do with this story-line. And I shall re-flip that table, just so you can flip it again! -,-,- (Weird table is weird)

**BoltFire:** Don't tell me...

**Me:** No, not clop. Just a cute story full of feels.

**BoltFire:** Okay, good. Don't want to be seen as a filly fooler.

**Me:** Well, there is one last filly you gotta meet.

**BoltFire:** I'm gonna trust you on that. Now, guess who is good with fillies and colts.

**Me:** Who? Wait no do-!

**BoltFire:** Pinkie Pie.

**Me:** ...

**BoltFire:** ...

**Me:** ...phew, she didn't hear that.

_'Random Dolphin Noises'_

**Pinkie:** *Glomp from behind* Nick! It's been too long! Oh, hi Bolty!

**BoltFire:** Hey Pinks. *Looks to me* I don't see what your problem is, she seems fine to me.

**Me:** Dude, Easter wasn't too long ago and the first day of this month is April 1st. So, here's a little math for you. (Pinkie + (Sugar * x (Amount of candy she got)))^Prank month=?

**BoltFire:** ...shit.

**Me:** Yeah, you doomed us all. Now, do the disclaimer before we all die from one too many parties.

**Pinkie:** *Deep intake of breath* A PARTY?! GREAT IDEA NICK! *Claps hooves together and whistles loudly*

*Earth starts to shake as thousands of ponies come running*

**Me:** Oh shit! Quickly, do the disclaimer! Do the disclaimer!

**BoltFire:** Oh fuck! Nick doesn't own My Little pony, anything Lewis Carroll does, or any references to things in this fic. Despite what Pinkie says, Nick doesn't own her, he does own me though. Now, since that's done, STAMPEDE!

**Chapter 10: Dreams and Things**

***BoltFire***

It's been a while, but I am once again greeted by the darkness. Unlike other times, the Darkness took a while to get to me. I know what you're probably thinking, "Oh, it's dark how can it take a while to get to you?" Well, when I close my eyes I can't see my hooves or anything like that. When the Darkness does come I can see my limbs as I'm floating through a void of black.

...

_[?! The hell was that?]_

...

_[What the- what's going on?]_

...

_[Huh? Mission?]_

*Flash of red* ...

_[What are you angry about? And why do you keep saying the same thing over and over?]_

*A flash of images. Grotesque, putrid images* ...!

_[W-what the hell is this?! Why are you showing me these?!]_

*An Image a Dash happily flying through a clear blue sky slowly morphed into her flying frantically away from something. The sky as red as blood and the clouds as black as smoke. Dash herself is covered in cuts, bruises, and blood. One leg flailing uselessly about, broken*

_[Please...stop...]_

*An image of Fluttershy with animals changing to corpses of said animals surrounding a cowering Fluttershy. Her neck at an unnatural angle and blood running out her eyes, nose, and mouth*

_[Enough...]_

*Twilight with books rammed down her throat. Applejack nailed to a tree. Pinkie popped like a balloon. Rarity skinned and made into a robe*

_[no...]_

*Luna with her horn shattered and wings ripped off, slowly being torn apart by ropes*

_[No...]_

*Derpy rammed inside a mailbox, her head sticking out one end while her ass sticks out the other. Her eyes gouged out and her cutie mark ripped off. Around her neck is a wooden sign held up by barbed-wire, written in blood saying "I just don't know what went wrong..." And evident in every single picture, the mares have all been brutally raped.*

_[NOOOO-]_

"-OOOO!" I shout as my eyes dart around the room, the phantoms of my dreams still wreaking havoc on my mind. The Darkness still whispering to me, saying familiar things that I cannot understand. Movement on my left stops everything; the whispers, the phantom images, all of it.

Derpy is sleeping peacefully, oblivious to all my shouting and distress. The sunlight filtering in through the window making her look like a radiant angel, compared to the hellish nightmare I endured. She has her hooves wrapped around me and her head resting on my chest. Seeing her like this calmed me down quickly.

_[Just a dream...it was just a dream...]_

I lie back down and slowly drift into a dreamless sleep.

**+Celestia+**

*Sound of someone throwing up in the background*

_[Sigh, I knew I shouldn't have had her help me with this...]_ I walk up to Luna's private restroom and call to her "You alright in there Luna?"

The only response I get is more retching, the flushing of the Royal toilet, and a repeat of the previous actions. Now, I know I shouldn't have gotten Luna to help me, but she is the only one between the two of us who can send herself and images into other pony's dreams. The most I can do is colors and words.

The toilet flushes once more and Luna walks out of the bathroom, looking extremely ill "Sister...never again...will I _ever_ agree to do that to another pony..."

I nod "I wouldn't want you to anyway. But we had to do this, put him on edge. That way he won't get overwhelmed when the time comes."

"Be that as it may, where the _hell_ did you come up with those...oh gods..." she rushes back to the bathroom, barely making it before her lunch made its way back up.

I sigh again, looking out the window towards Ponyville.

_[Why now, after all these years from the initial invasion attempt? It just doesn't make sense. And didn't Chrysalis get flung the farthest out of all of them? I got a bad feeling about all this...]_

***BoltFire***

I woke up several hours later to pretty much the same sight as last time. Derpy was still curled up against me, but her face was uncomfortably close to mine. Well, it was only uncomfortable for a minute or two, after that, it was kinda soothing. Just the idea of having someone close to you as you sleep, you sharing your warmth with each other, selflessly giving without asking for anything in return...sigh, even with all my friends, I guess I'm alone.

I don't move for fear of waking the angel in front of me. Out of the corner of my eye, I see a digital clock that Double got but never used. It read 9:13.

_[Crap, I'm late for work...well, not much I can do about it now...]_

Derpy starts to wake up, causing me to panic a little.

_[Shit! What do I do?! If I don't do something, she may think I did something and get mad and leave! Oh, I know! I'll pretend I'm asleep! Yes, that'll work!]_

I quickly feign sleep as Derpy becomes more aware of her surroundings. I couldn't see her, but I heard her gasp, her warm breath slightly tingling my nose. I felt her quickly move off the bed, the sound of her hooves making their way to the door. Just as they reached that end of the room, however, they stopped, as if she's having an internal debate over something. The sound of hooves continues from there, but instead of going out my door, they make their way back to the bed.

Did she discover my rouse? Is she mad? Is she surprised? Is she-

A pair of soft, warm lips gently presses against my forehead.

...I believe that answered your questions.

_[Shut up brain!]_

The sound of hooves hurriedly making their way out the room catches my attention. As soon as I hear the front door close, I get up. My hoof lightly brushing the spot where she kissed me.

_[Did she...?]_

I shake my head and allow a smile to appear, a genuinely happy smile.

* * *

I arrive at Applejack's twenty minutes later only to find that none of the trees had any apples on them. I shrug and continue to her house.

A voice from behind causes me to stop and turn. Running towards me are the three little fillies from yesterday.

"Hmm? Oh, it's you three. What's up?"

They tilt their heads in confusion and look up. I face hoof "It means 'what's going on?'"

"Ooooh." They say at the same time. Scootaloo steps forward.

"Well, we're on a quest." Enter Sweetie Belle.

"A crusade!" Applebloom goes between them, arms (legs?) on their heads.

"Fer our cutie-marks!" She loses her balance and they fall to the ground

I chuckle then tilt my head, now taking a turn at being confused "A crusade? For your cutie-marks? What are you, 'cutie mark crusaders'?" They get up and stare at me, before something clicks in their minds.

Their mouths drop open wide as if I figured out the secret of the universe.

Applebloom is the first to recover "That's raght! How'd ya guess, mister? Are ya psychic 'r sometin'?!"

I rub the back of my neck "That's flattering but I wouldn't put it like that. I just decided to put two words that you girls said together and hope for the best. I was actually joking when I said Cutie Mark Crusaders, but that's actually what you call yourselves?"

They respond with a chorus of 'Yup'.

"We even have our own uniforms an' everthin'!" they turn around and show me their...capes. **(A/N: ...Dirty filly-foolers, stay away from those three. They are too precious to be corrupted right now! Also, you all should know what their capes look like from the show, so I'm not describing them.)**

"Huh, those are pretty good. Did one of you make them?"

Sweetie Belle blushes a little "I did. D-do you really think they're good?"

I smile and nod "Of course I do. I wouldn't say so if I thought otherwise."

She smiles brightly at this, the blush slightly growing.

Before any of us could say anything else, a shout comes from the direction of the barn. We turn and see Applejack and Big Mac running towards us...at top speed. Before we can react, Applejack scoops up Applebloom and Sweetie Belle, while Big Mac picks up Scootaloo. They start running towards town shouting something about Changelings...what the hell is a Changeling anyway?

Rustling behind me grabs my attention. I turn and see a unicorn pony...wait...something's wrong with its horn...yes _it_, I can't really say what the gender is. Anyway, the horn looks like it has holes in it, not unlike Swiss cheese...I don't really know what Swiss is, but I guess it's a country or something.

More rustling comes from either side of the "pony". Soon, the first is joined by four others, all looking just like the first. It's then that I notice something else about them; they have wings. Yes, wings. I would start to question whether they're Alicorns or not but I see that their wings are more akin to dragonflies instead of birds. Their soulless blue eyes staring at me with intense hatred. Stepping out of their cover, they begin to advance towards me. Allowing me to see that their horns weren't the only things with holes in it. Their legs were also in the same condition. White fangs protruding from their snarling maws, saliva dripping while feral growls emanate from within their throats.

Something about them tells me they're not here to play.

**~Luna~**

"It's time." I say as I watch Bolt through a portal.

My sister grimly nods behind me "We shall now see if we made the right choice with this one."

I nod, knowing full well that this could completely backfire on us if he ends up joining the other side, runs away, or if he's killed by the first wave. But, something in my gut tells me that I shouldn't worry. My brain says there's a chance he will, my gut tells me there's a high chance he won't, and my heart...my heart prays to my and Celestia's parents that everything will go alright. And that he will be able to walk away from this.

Alive.

***BoltFire***

I'm surrounded by the black, insect like ponies, slowly stalking and circling me like a hungry jungle cat. I step into a defensive stance and wait for one of them to make the first move, the "Changelings" apparently having the same idea.

We stay like that for a minute before one of them gets impatient. With a feral shout, the one on my left launches itself at me. I duck under its wild charge and punch it in the gut, sending it flying into one of its buddies. They get tangled up together on the ground.

Another two charge and try to take me down from behind. I lift my back legs up and buck them both in the face. I hear two wet crunches followed by dual whimpers and thuds. Looking back shows them both lying in the dirt, unconscious or otherwise, with green blood flowing from their foreheads and noses.

_[Damn! Did I do that?! Guess apple bucking's good for leg strength.]_

Sudden pain brings me out of my thoughts, the force of the blow knocking me a few feet forward. The last Changeling standing had taken a cheap shot while I was distracted! I put a hoof to the spot on my head where it hit; pulling away shows red on my hoof.

"Tch, bastard!" I then open my wings out of instinct, waiting for the Changling to make the next move.

The Changling growls before launching itself at me. Time seems to slow down as the adrenaline pumping through my veins increases, causing all that happens next to go in slow-motion. I give my wings one powerful flap, launching myself into the air. I put a little too much power into it which causes me to do a back flip. As I was flipping, however, I felt one of my back hooves collide with the thing's chin, launching it back in a flip of its own. It lands five feet away and doesn't get up.

By now, the first two untangled themselves and came charging blindly at me, not noticing their buddies on the ground. I'm still in my flip, so I wouldn't have a chance to get out of the way. Without thinking, I reach out and grab both by their horns, twisting my body as I do. Two cracks ring out as I finish twisting around. I land and jump backwards, only to see the two lying in the dirt, blood coming out their eyes and their necks at odd angles.

My eyes dart around, looking for any others wanting to attack me.

No sign of life is anywhere near me.

My breathing slows and my adrenaline drops back to normal, causing the fatigue and pain to catch up with me. I fall onto my side, with the last thing I see being my friends, with Derpy in the front, rushing towards me, worry and fear plastered on all their faces.

**~Luna~**

I'm standing there in front of the viewing portal with my jaw happily united with the floor. I believe my sister is in the same way, but I can't turn away to verify. I'm too shocked at what we both saw.

Celestia speaks up after a minute "Oh...my...me..."

I nod, not finding my voice.

"Did he...but that's...how can..."

She continues babbling while I say nothing.

I suddenly feel a shiver run down my spine, a very _familiar_ shiver. A shiver that can only be caused by one thing and one thing alone, 'Tia smiling.

I slowly turn my head around, hoping I was wrong and it was just my imagination. In a sense, I was wrong. She wasn't smiling, no, that would be possible by everything. She was having a 'Pinkie smile', one that looked like your face would rip apart at any moment.

I slowly and calmly back away from my sister, getting creeped out more the longer I look at her "'Tia...? Are you alright...?"

She tilts her head to the side, that same insane grin on her face "Of course I am, Luna. Why wouldn't I be?"

My ears tilt back slightly and my heart starts beating a little faster "I...don't know...but...is he what you thought he would be...?"

She shakes her head, looking more crazed with that smile still in place "Oh no. He did not meet expectations…"

I gulp out of fear.

Suddenly, her expression changes completely. No longer does she have a creepy smile, but a normal one. The happiness even reaches her eyes "No, he exceeded them! He's better than I thought! Oh Luna, we chose a great one! No wonder you fell for him."

*Insert sound of tea-kettle here*

"'Tia, what the hell?!"

She shrugs "Hey, I'm just saiyan."

I face hoof...hard, hurting my already throbbing skull "Ugh...no references...please...I need an aspirin..."

***BoltFire***

*FFVIII Victory fan-fare in background*

Welp, Darkness...already had enough of it for one day. The scenes from earlier haven't faded much from my mind, but at least I'm not forced to look at them. And what the hell is with the music in the background? Kinda catchy, actually. Let's see...dark all around me, can't see my limbs, time to test if this is a dream. I think of a small white scoreboard and it appears, writing already on it.

"The hell is this?"

The title of it reads '# of times passed-out/fainted'.

...Damn it.

I turn the thing around, not wanting to see what was written on it. When I turned it, however, there's writing on the other-side, too. This side being much more interesting, albeit confusing.

_[S.P.E.C.I.A.L.?]_

The title at first confused me, but then I saw something running down the side.

Strength - 5

Perception - 5

Endurance - 5

Charisma - 5

Intelligence - 5

Agility - 5

Luck - 5

Across the bottom it reads 'Available points - 5'

"…what the hell is this?"

Suddenly, the numbers start to glow and pulse. I cover my eyes as they get unbearably bright. I sensed them flash one last time before going dim. Cautiously taking my leg away from my face, I peer back at the weird dream board. To my astonishment, the numbers changed.

It now read like this:

Strength - 6

Perception - 5

Endurance - 6

Charisma - 5

Intelligence - 5

Agility - 8

Luck - ...?

Available Points - $ %#^!

I tilt my head, completely and utterly confused. I try to figure out what it is for a couple minutes when I hear voices.

"Hmm? They sound familiar...oh yeah, I passed out. I might be in the hospital...again."

The sign suddenly flips and shows me the total amount.

"Oh for fuck's sa-"

I'm ripped out of the dream before I could finish.

* * *

Voices start to become more clear, allowing me to figure out who they belong to and their attitude.

"C'mon, Bolt! Stay with us! Who else will race me once you're gone?!"

_[Sigh...once again time to do a mental checklist. First up, Rainbow Dash.]_

"Yeh, an' who's gonna help 'round the farm?"

_[Applejack]_

"Who's going to laugh at my jokes and come to my parties?"

_[...Pinkie? Why do you sound so sad? Actually, why do all of you sound so sad?]_

"Please, Bolt. Don't leave us..."

_[T-twilight?! Alright, what the hell is going on? Why is there a pressure on my chest and-]_

"Who's going to pose for my new all-stallion clothing line?"

_[...I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that, Rarity.]_

"Stop playing around and get the hell up! Without your income, I could lose my house!"

_[...ok, didn't expect Double to be here...and all of those reasons sound slightly selfish...well, except for Twi's, that just sounded desperate.]_

A small voice finally makes itself known "Um, girls...He's going to be fine."

The other mares just go off saying how I'm going to leave them and all that, causing Fluttershy to actually raise her voice...wait, that didn't sound significant enough. Let's try that again.

**_SHE ACTUALLY RAISED HER VOICE!_**

Better.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!"

The room got deathly quiet. Damn, didn't know Shy had it in her.

"He's not dying! He just has a cut on his head from one of those Changelings hitting him! It isn't deep enough to be life threatening. If anything, he's just going to be sore when he wakes!"

Damn right, Fluttershy! ...Where the hell did that come from?

I open my eyes to see an annoyingly familiar sight. The only annoying part being that this keeps happening.

My friends are surrounding my bed with looks of worry and small, dim lights of hope in their eyes. Well, except for Fluttershy seeing as she knew more about injuries than all of them combined.

They're all arguing with each other, and Pinkie's hair is completely straight...kinda freaky when you know her. Again, I feel a slight amount of pressure to my left. I turn my head, the others not even realizing I'm awake yet, and see another familiar sight.

Derpy is lying next to me with her forelegs around my chest and her head on my shoulder, tears soaking my fur and the bed sheet.

Two questions came from this. One, why was she crying on my shoulder? And two, why is she in my bed? I sigh, which grabs the attention of someone in the room.

"Oh! He's awake!"

Oh, there's Thunderlane. He was hiding to my right...wait...is he...oh Celestia! Get him out of the bed!

I fly out of the bed faster than a cat away from water...which is fast. **(A/N: What? They don't like water; I have the scars to prove it.)**

I don't exactly know how I did it, but I got past everyone without being noticed. They shift their heads left and right, Dash saying what they all were probably thinking "Where the hay did he go?"

They continue to search for me, yet they didn't check the most obvious place, up. No-one present even thought of looking in that direction, hell, they even checked _under_ the bed!

_[Seriously? You know what? Fuck this charade, Thunderlane is off my bed.]_

I climb down from whatever thing I was on and lie back down in my bed, the others _still_ not noticing me.

_Oh my, they failed a notice check...hard._

_[Gah! What the hell?! Who said that?!]_

_Wha?! You can hear me?!_

_[No, I'm just talking to an imaginary being that just happens to be saying the same things as you.]_

_You know, I could feel your eyes roll from that comment._

_[Sarcasm aside, why are you in my head?]_

_Well, I was just seeing how my student was doing, but somepony had to insist I get in your head to do it. Also, nice job with the Changelings, I didn't think you'd survive._

_{See! I told you 'Tia! But did you listen to me? No, you just had to be against me on this just like with everything else!}_

That sounded an awful lot like Luna...

_Hey, we embody two opposite things; I'm just playing along to that._

_{Still, I won the bet. You shall now bow before me and call me master!}_

0_0 Just the way she said that...

_...Um, Luna? You do know Bolt's on the other end of the line, right? He can hear everything, for some odd reason..._

_{...}_

The sheer level of embarrassment is palpable, even from here...

_[...She ran, didn't she...]_

_Yup, anyway, when you feel well enough to move, I would like you, Twilight Sparkle, and the rest of the girls to come to Canterlot. There is something we need to discuss, seeing as how you all are involved in it._

_[Haa...doesn't seem like I have a choice, what with Royalty inviting and all.]_

_Well, you do have a choice. It's just that it is imperative that you come; Ponyville won't be safe otherwise...So that technically means you only have a choice if you're a heartless bastard, and I don't believe you are; So, we shall see you soon._

_[Hold on! I still have-]_

_BOOOP-BOOOP-BOOOP-BOOOP *The number you have dialed is currently unavailable. Either hang up, or leave a message after the tone.*_

_[What the-]_

_*BEEEP*_

_[Um...this is a little weird...why is there a phone in my head?]_

I shake myself and remember the familiar weight on my chest. Looking down shows Derpy in her previous position, fast asleep.

_[...What am I, your personal pillow? Though...I don't really mind...]_

A gasp pulls my attention from the sleeping angel in my arms. I turn my crimson eyes towards the source. All my friends were bowing with their heads towards the door. I turn my own towards the doorway and see Luna...except she's white. She has the same mane style, yet this one has pink, light blue, light green and light purple instead of the night sky. Her regalia are gold instead of silver, her cutie mark depicts a sun instead of the moon, and she has a motherly air about her, as opposed to Luna's teenage-like demeanor. Based on my conversations with Luna, this is her big sister, 'Tia...I mean Celestia.

She puts on a soft smile that doesn't quite reach her eyes. They seem to be either saddened or agitated. Probably from having to go through this every day "Arise, my little ponies. You do not have to bow before me whenever I make an appearance."

Twilight lifts her head "But Princess, then it wouldn't be respectful!"

Celestia looks like she's about to say something, but a voice cuts her off. Actually, it was me. Ah, random flashes of being a dick "Sorry Princess, but what are you doing here? I thought you said we'd see each other later."

She shakes her head and almost replies, however Twilight butts in "Bolt! Show some respect, this is Princess Celestia! She is the co-ruler of _ALL_ of Equestria!"

I nod "Yeah, and she's also the mare you just interrupted. All I did was ask a question."

Twilight opens her mouth to retort, but stops and thinks. She chuckles and rubs the back of her neck as a sheepish grin, accompanied by a blush, graces her features.

_[Ha-ha! Ah, it feels good to win conversations like this. Maybe I should keep track of times I won against anyone...hmm, this competitiveness is unusual. Oh well, Score-Board!]_

_Twilight - 1/0_

_Dash - 0/0_

_Fluttershy - 0/0_

_AJ - 0/0_

_Rarity - 0/0_

_Pinkie - 0/0_

_[Heh, Hell yeah.]_

Celestia has a small grin on her face, which slightly unnerved me. There's just something about that smile that...sends shivers and tingles down my spine...anyway, she's talking "As I was saying, I said you'd come to Canterlot when you are feeling well enough to move. Seeing as you jumped halfway across the room to get out of a rather...strange situation. I figured you'd be alright."

_[How did she...oh yeah...she probably saw it through my eyes.]_

I nod "Ok, but why are you here in Ponyville? I thought you wanted to meet in Canterlot?"

Her eyes light up as she smiles this time "Whoever said we were in Ponyville?"

This threw me and the girls off "Huh?"

She tilts her head towards the window "Take a look."

The girls and I run towards the window...well, they did, I had to set Derpy down. How anyone can sleep through all this, I will never know.

Once I got up to the window, I copied the face of all the mares with me. That is as follows: jaw down, eyes wide, and brain trying to comprehend...Well, Pinkie was alright, but everyone else wasn't. Actually, only Derpy, Twilight, Fluttershy, Dash, AJ, Pinkie, and Rarity are with me. I'm glad Thunderlane is gone, but Double is probably pissed at our sudden disappearance.

Twilight turns to Celestia "But...how...when..."

Celestia chuckles "It happened when you all were searching for him." She points a hoof in my direction "One question though, did any of you think to look up?"

Dash answers **(Isn't that a Tumblr account?) **"Why the hay would we look up?"

I cough to get everyone's attention. When I have it I unfurl and gesture to my wings.

"Oh."

Celestia coughs this time and we all turn to her "Now, the reason why I have summoned you all here..."

_[Literally...]_

_Shush, just listen._

_[Sigh, fine _mom_.]_

She ignores my sarcastic comment "Is because of a growing threat that I, as well as others, believed to be truly gone."

Twilight tilts her head "If it's so important, why are we talking about it in a hospital room?"

_[Wait...don't tell me...you teleported us again...didn't you?]_

_Tee-hee, yes. Let's wait and see how long it takes her to figure it out._

_[...you're bored, aren't you.]_

_Ding Ding Ding~! We have a winner!_

Celestia turns her attention to the ceiling "Well, why aren't we talking about it in the throne room?"

Twilight trips up a bit...we were walking this entire time? And what's with the sweat-drop on Twi's head? Oh well "I...don't understand."

Celestia looks at Twilight "Well, something as important as this should be told in the throne room, shouldn't it? Yet you are asking unrelated questions, dear Twilight."

"What are you..." she finally notices her surroundings.

***Back at Ponyville hospital***

Thunderlane is looking everywhere for us, while Double is reading some music magazine.

She flips through a couple pages before seeing an interesting article "Huh, Octavia is pairing up with DJ P0N3 for a special concert next Friday...Lyra Heartstrings convicted of murder...of a symphony? Tch, total shit...she wouldn't harm a fly, much less that crap. It wasn't even a good piece to begin with. I wonder how cousin Vinnie's doing..."

Meanwhile, Thunderlane is still freaking out.

"Oh no oh no oh no oh no! Where are they?! Where could they have gone?! Are they-?"

_CLONG~_

_Thud_

"Sigh, idiot. Making all that noise for nothing." She turns her attention to the thing Thunderlane ran into; her spoon...her _giant_ spoon. **(Don't ask. My friend has an entire spoon collection that she can use better than knives. They are both weapons and tools of punishment…Beware.) **"You even put a dent in Enrique." She gets up and looms over the crumpled form of Thunderlane "Guess I have to make you into a mare the old fashioned way, don't worry, the jewels shall be safe. I'll keep 'em fresh... in a jar on my night stand."

_Smack!_

Her ears perk up as she stops and listens "The hell was that? It almost sounds like someone face-hoofed, but...it would have to have been hard to hear it in here..." She turns to her magazine, catching sight of something that makes her get excited and, fortunately for him, causes her to forget about Thunderlane "Ooh! A sale is going on at Flow's?! Buy one get two free any record and/or CD?!"

That day, no one knew what really caused them to be flung into the wall closest to them. One minute their sitting or standing, talking to someone, the next their face first in the wall, getting to know the studs and insulation. Also, Flow's suffered a shortage of just about all their merchandise. They did, however, make a substantial amount of bits in a scant four hours, a record in all of Equestrian history.

***Back to us***

We all cringed the moment Twilight's hoof connected with her face. I mean really, how hard did she hit?! I think she caused herself a concussion...

Luna walks in at that point "What was that noise?"

I turn to her and remember what she said over the link, causing a small blush to form "Well...Twilight face-hoofed...hard."

Her eyes become full of concern "Is she alright? I was asleep when I heard it. I must say, I think I felt it too..."

I nod and gesture to Twilight "We all did, were just waiting to see if she's fine or not."

At this point, Twi groans.

Celestia cocks her head to the side "Why did you hit yourself, my most faithful student? Are there some depression problems that I need to be aware of?"

Celestia...you would make a great actress.

_Meh, comes with the crown._

_{I heard that 'Tia!}_

_Gah! I thought this was a secure line! Abort, ABORT!_

_{What the...?}_

_*Your call has been disconnected. Please hang up the phone and try again later. Thank you.*_

_[...sigh.]_

_{Indeed...}_

Celestia clears her throat "Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, the threat. Now, as you all know, if you remember where you found BoltFire here, the Changelings are back."

Gasps here! Get yer Gasps here! Free of charge! What? ALL of you have Gasps to give?! Well then.

Celestia sends me an unamused glare before continuing "And as such, we believe they have obtained a new queen, seeing as how Chrysalis was blasted farther than all of them combined."

Twilight groans again "Ugh, I need a bucking aspirin..."

_{Don't we all...}_

_Oh shush, Luna._

Luna hands **(Again, hoofs)** Twilight some pills and a glass of water, which she graciously accepted "So *Swallows pills and water* where were they last seen?"

Celestia taps her chin "Well, from all the reports we've been getting, the last Changeling was sighted at Sweet Apple Acres. The last _living_ Changeling sighted was a week ago in the Everfree forest."

**...Ba-dum**

...Why can I hear my heart beating? Well, the room dropped a couple degrees into frozen nipple territory and became quieter than a mute singing 'Cats in the Cradle' by Harry Chapin...who the hell is that anyway? And what's up with that analogy?

I look at all the stunned faces of my friends, wishing I was smaller. AJ gets over her shock first "What do ya mean by last livin'? What about all the one's back at mah farm? You tellin' me all them...are..."

Celestia nods "Yes, those five at your farm are all dead."

Rarity makes a weird noise, pulls a couch out of nowhere and faints on it in an overly dramatic pose. Dash finds her voice next "B-but...what killed them...?"

Celestia raises an eyebrow "What do you mean? Surely you would have guessed by now."

Dash just stares at Celestia, trying to form some type of response. She then looks from me to Celestia and back again. She points a hoof at me and gives Celestia a questioning look. A nod is her answer.

Dash looks pretty shaken up by this, but Celestia only takes note of it before continuing "Now, you six are here for when the invasion comes, if it does. You will use your elements of harmony against the Changelings and send them back to wherever they came from."

Fluttershy speaks up...huh, you'd think she'd be shaken up over the fact that someone she knows killed something. Well she does take care of a wide variety of animals, so a carnivore could be one of them "What about Bolt? And why is Derpy here?"

"Well, I was only meaning for you seven to be here. However, Miss Hooves here was using Bolt as a pillow. Since she was in contact with him, she came along."

_[Why am I used as a pillow? Well, Derpy's only done that three times. Angel doesn't count because he was trying to get me away from Fluttershy, I think...]_

"And as for BoltFire, he's here to train."

_[Wait, what?]_

_You heard me. Train. As in learn how to fight._

_[Why?]_

_Because I said so. You start in the morning._

_[Ugh, fine _mom_.]_

_Well, I'll let you get some rest then. Love you, _son_. See you in the morning!_

_[...Troll.]_

_{Don't let her get to you, she's always like that.}_

Celestia then bids us all a goodnight, much to the confusion of the mares. This entire time, they didn't notice a couple hours had gone by.

I yawn, which causes them to turn to me "Well, I don't know about you girls, but I'm going to follow Derpy's example and get some sleep, cause apparently I'm being trained for something tomorrow..."

As if my yawn was a highly contagious illness, all the mares yawn as well. **(Damn it! Even I yawned when typing this! *Classmates yawn* …Success.)**

Anyway, the girls bid me a good night and went to their rooms; apparently they've been here so many times, they get their own special rooms.

I walk back to the bed to see Derpy sound asleep "...she's still asleep? I thought she would've woken up by now..."

I yawn once more before climbing into the bed with my back to the sleeping angel, thoughts racing through my head as I try to make sense of all that happened today.

_[Those images...that word...the sudden flare of anger...those Changelings...why...? Why does it seem...like those are all connected...?]_

I turn my head to look at Derpy's sleeping form.

_[...Why was she crying on my shoulder when I got hurt...? I know I'm her friend, but shouldn't she have just been worried like the others, instead of being so sad...?]_

A sudden ping of anger comes when I remember that scene.

_[Also, why the hell was Thunderlane in my bed!?]_

I calm down as I listen to the mare beside me breath slowly and peacefully. Confusion enters my brain again.

_[And...Why do I feel so calm about sharing a bed with Derpy...? Sigh, too many questions, not enough answers...]_

I lay my head back down and try to get some sleep; I apparently have a hard day tomorrow.

* * *

I had normal dreams tonight. No darkness, no grotesque images, no random colors, just...dreams. Just my mind occupying itself with random scenarios of things not very relevant to my life or events currently happening. It's only until I notice a clock counting down do things begin to get weird.

I'm running through what looks like Ponyville, yet not Ponyville. It's kinda hard to explain, but it only looked like Ponyville, it didn't feel like it. Well, normally in dreams when you realize it's a dream, you wake up. For me, it only made things weirder. Colors started to swap places, apples and pumpkins turned into pony heads, wood turned to sponge, things like that. There was even pony heads with spider legs crawling around, a pile of bones being carried off by them. **(Ah, sweet references. I take no credit for them, but guess them all and win a prize!)**

"Uh...ok..."

Suddenly, voices come from everywhere and nowhere at once.

_"You're thinking about something, my dear, and that makes you forget to talk. I can't tell you just now what the moral of that is, but I shall remember it in a bit."_

_"Perhaps it hasn't one,"_

_"Tut, tut, child! Everything's got a moral, if only you can find it."_

_[Huh?]_

The landscape around me changes from a distorted Ponyville to a forest with giant trees and mushrooms.

_[...ooooooookkkkkkkaaaaaayyyyy...? What the hell did I eat before I went to sleep?]_

A griffin suddenly appears, sitting on top of a mushroom and talking to the air _"That's the reason they're called lessons, because they lessen from day to day."_

I look down and see I'm standing on a path. Looking back at the griffon shows it to be nowhere in sight.

_[...strange...]_

I walk down the path and come across a clearing. In the middle of it is a long table with tea cups and finery. Three voices come from the table, conversing as if normal, yet no one can be seen.

_"Take some more tea."_

_"I've had nothing yet, so I can't take more."_

_"You mean you can't take _less_, it's very easy to take more than nothing."_

_"Nobody asked your opinion."_

_[I think...I hit my head harder than I thought...]_

I look down the way I came, only to see darkness.

_[Guess I can only move forward...]_

I continue on the path, but not before noticing the tea party thing fade away. I soon arrive to a fork in the road.

_[Hmm...Which way should I take...]_

_"Which way you ought to go depends on where you want to get to..."_

I jump in shock and take a few steps back...only to feel nothing on my left hoof. I look back and see that the darkened area isn't just a darkening effect...it's like nothing existed there.

I turn my head back and look to the source of the noise; a lone tree in-between the two paths. Seeing as this was a dream, I decided to reply "I don't know where they lead, so I don't know which I should take."

A row of teeth appear in the form of a grin, followed by two yellow eyes and a nose. Then a body phased in standing on top of a head. The thing turned out to be a purple cat.

_"Then it doesn't matter which way you go."_

"But I want to wake up."

_"Oh, you're sure to do that...if you only walk long enough."_

The cat then fades away into nothing, as if it wasn't even there to begin with.

_[I think...I'm going crazy...]_

_"If you don't know where you are going, any road will take you there..."_

_[...yup, definitely going crazy.]_

The scene around me changes to the inside of what looks like a castle.

_[...This looks familiar...]_

_"Well, it should. You are sleeping here at the moment."_

I jump at least ten feet into the air. Laughter below catches my attention. I look down and see a familiar face.

"...Luna?"

'Luna' gets over her laughing fit and nods while looking up at me "Yes, it's me. Now come down, I want to talk to you."

_[Should I? Things might turn weird, seeing as this is a dream.]_

Luna sighs "Yes this is a dream but no, things won't get weird...well, at least not as weird as it already has."

I stare at her from my floating position "You mean you know about all that random stuff earlier?"

She rolls her eyes "Yes, I do. I am the princess of the night; therefore, all that happens during the night is under my jurisdiction. Which includes dreams and..._social_ gatherings." She says that last part with a slight blush.

I tilt my head but don't voice my question. Instead, I shrug and land next to her "So, what did you want to talk about?"

Her blush goes away as she focuses on me "Well, we didn't get to talk today and I couldn't sleep. So, I decided to hop into your dream and find you so we could chat. I must say, I thought I accidently jumped into Pinkie's dream for a moment there."

I nod, then look around. The castle walls slowly morphing into a room with a couch and a couple easy-chairs; a table and two chairs set in front of a window off to the right showing a beautiful full moon. On the table is a lit candle and plates set at both spots.

I tilt my head "Strange..." I then head over to a chair and sit down.

Luna takes a little longer "Y-yeah..." She lays down on the couch and looks at me expectantly.

At first I don't know what she wants, but then I realize she probably wants me to start the conversation "So...anything interesting happen at the castle recently?" _[Wow, weak start up...]_

Luna giggles a little "Yes that is a weak first sentence, but besides you dropping by with the mane six, no nothing interesting has happened."

My eyes widen a little but then I realize that we're in my dream, which is basically in my head. So thinking something up is basically like saying it 'out loud' "Ah, sounds boring."

She sighs "Yes, it can get that way most of the time. However, it's not as boring when you have something to look forward to, although it makes it seem to take longer to get to that point and only a short amount of time to enjoy it."

I nod in agreement "Yeah, things tend to be that way. It seems too unfair that the things we enjoy seem to be shorter than those that we are bored by."

She nods "I agree, although it does give me something to look forward to in the future when we can't finish our talks..." She then realizes what she said, but too late.

I look at her and raise an eyebrow "So...you enjoy our talks that much?"

She shifts her eyes left and right, probably trying to find an escape route or a topic to switch to. She gives up with a sigh "...yes?"

I couldn't help but crack a grin "Good, cause I do too! It's been far too long from our last, wouldn't you agree?"

She seems surprised by what I said, her surprise turning into mock anger. Although that smirk didn't really help sell it. She painfully nudges me shoulder "Jerk."

I laugh while rubbing my shoulder, her laughter joining mine a second later.

We laugh for a good minute before calming down. By then, I realize a question that's been plaguing me since we got here "So, why is there a candle lit dinner next to a beautiful view of the full moon?"

She blushes almost immediately and turns slightly away "Umm...you tell me. This is your dream after all..."

I shake my head "But being the princess of the night would allow you to change dreams however you wish, wouldn't it?"

She flinches, gotcha!

I continue, not letting my momentum falter "Besides, I'd have to envision wherever I wanted for a dream when I'm aware of the dream. However, I didn't change the castle scene; heck, I don't even know where this place is to begin with."

She looks me in the eyes, as if to say 'are you sure of that theory?'. My gaze doesn't waver, causing her to sigh in defeat "Yes...I made this setting. Although I didn't mean for the dinner. I just wanted a comfortable setting for us. To talk, not date or anything."

An eyebrow of mine arches as if on its own "I never said anything about a date."

Her cheeks redden "Er...well...you know what I mean!"

I chuckle a little "Yeah, I know." a small smile forms on my face "I really appreciate it, though. A castle corridor isn't the most relaxing of places to talk."

A light blush forms across her muzzle "I-it was nothing."

We drop into an awkward silence, neither of us having anything to talk about. Well, at least until Luna pipes up with a random question "So...has any mare caught your eye?"

If I was drinking anything, I would probably look like a fountain right now. A blush immediately making itself known "Um...what?"

Luna blushes as well "You...don't have to say if you don't want...I'm just curious."

My blush dies down a bit, but doesn't go away completely "Well...I haven't really thought about it...There are some mares that I consider more than friends...well, really good friends...but no one that I'm smitten with."

Her ears droop a bit "Oh...do you mind...if I ask who those mares are...?"

My blush becomes a little brighter "Um...sure...Um...well, there's Twilight. But I see her as an older sister more than anything. There's Derpy, I don't know what I feel with her right now...Fluttershy, although I haven't had much time to hang out with her...Rainbow Dash seems more like a friendly rival sometimes...and then there's you..."

She blinks a couple times "M-me...?"

I nod "Yeah, I see you as one of my closest friends. If something were to happen to you, or any of my friends for that matter, I don't know how I'd ever live on."

She's silent for a minute, absorbing all the information that I released. After that minute, she starts to say something, only for a pulsing to cut her off.

I look around "The hell was that?"

She sighs, looking slightly saddened "That's just something that says you will be waking up soon. It's there to tell me when I should exit a dream; least I suffer some pretty horrible repercussions."

I frown a little "Oh, well I don't want to be the cause of that for you. It's been nice talking to you, Luna. See you soon."

She nods and pulls me in a tight hug, which I returned after the shock went away "It was nice talking to you too. Same thing tomorrow or would you want to talk in person?"

"As cool as it is to talk to a friend in your own dreams, I would much rather talk face to face."

She nods, then closes her eyes and glows a dark blue. She then disappears in a flash and dark blue particles are all that remain in her place. I then feel a tugging of my subconscious, guessing that I was waking up.

* * *

I wake up slower than I normally do; the sun shining through the window coxing me to wake faster. I blink a couple times and listen to the birds chirping outside. I yawn and begin to stretch, only to feel something holding me tight. I focus my eyes forward and see the cause of the resistance. Derpy has her forelegs around me, as usual; however, we are facing each other with her pressing me to her chest and our noses barely touching.

From our proximity, I can see the minute muscle movements in her face. The slight flutter of her eyelids, the twitching of her lips forming a smile, the slow intake of breath. Her mane slightly covering her eyes only adds to the beauty of the scene.

My face heats up quickly as I try to find a way out of this. One part of me says to get out as fast as I can, while another says to just let this draw out. Seeing as I don't like being an ass to friends or...ruin cute moments...I decide to enjoy the warmth.

_[You know...I never noticed before, but she looks really cute when she sleeps. Well, I did say she looked like an angel once...but...]_ I slowly close my eyes as I listen to her slow, steady breath; some of which lightly brushing against my cheek _[The way she's holding onto me...heh, it's like I'm her stuffed animal or something...plus...she's so warm...I want this to last, although I know I have to get up for the day Celestia has planned for me.]_

I slowly open my eyes...at the same time she does. Our eyes lock and our faces light up as we stare at each other, neither of us finding our voices. Both her eyes are focused on mine, fear dancing around in her beautiful golden eyes.

After what seems like hours, she starts to move her hooves off of me. I move my hooves to her, which causes her to flinch. I quickly wrap them around her, close my eyes, and hold her tight; causing her to squirm a bit but then settling down. As I hold her, I can feel her heart beating. For a second, it felt like it skipped a beat before pumping fast. Now, it's dropped a bit back towards normal, but still faster than normal.

I slowly open my eyes to see she's still staring at me, her blush as strong as ever. Without warning, she closes the small distance between us and presses her lips firmly against mine.

My face burns with the force of a thousand suns...ok, my face only got really red. Anyway, I can't believe what's happening; Derpy is kissing me! Well, she did kiss me at the welcome party, but I just thought that was to say thanks for the kind words. I don't know why, but as she's kissing me I feel...a part of me start to fill up. Like I was empty before and she's restoring a portion of me.

I close my eyes and press into the kiss, relishing the feeling of her lips against mine. She emits a cute squeak of surprise when I press into her soft lips. I soon feel a new sensation on my lips; it seems her tongue is requesting entry.

I oblige and open my mouth, not breaking the kiss as our tongues go to greet one another. With her tongue comes the taste of blueberry muffins, followed by a slow moan. Our tongues begin their dance for dominance as soon as they touch for the first time.

_*BANG*_

The door suddenly flies open and we jerk apart from each other, still in each other's embrace but looking at the door that almost flew off its hinges. Standing in the doorway is a white unicorn stallion with three different shades of blue for his mane; his cutie mark is a shield with a purple star in the middle with three stars above it. He also appears to have just kicked in the door.

"Alright, maggot! Time to wake...up." He turns around and sees the situation I'm in. "...I ruined a tender moment...huh?"

Derpy and I just nod.

He sighs and rubs his forehead "You have ten minutes." He then closes the door, leaving both of us with bright red blushes.

Derpy speaks up "I...uh...think we should get ready for the day."

I nod and head towards the bathroom, turning on the shower and jumping in.

_[Looks like today's training is starting earlier than expected...and...that kiss from Derpy felt good. I wonder if maybe...after training...]_ I blink at what I just thought _[I think...I love Derpy...]_

**A/N: So how did y'all like it?**

**BoltFire:** What. The. Fuck.

**Me:** It had to be done.

**BoltFire:** But...that beginning...

**Me:** Like I said, it had to be done. Although it's going to haunt me from just thinking about those images, let alone writing them down.

**Luna:** Nick, have you been taking your medication?

**Me:** Why would I? I prefer real happiness over happiness obtained through use of drugs and narcotics. Those never really last. And besides, if I did take my pills, then we wouldn't have all these _lovely_ images. I also wouldn't be having a chaotically creative overflow right now.

**Celestia:** ...Discord? Is that you?

**Me:** Uh, no. He comes later. Besides, I'm not as bad as Dissy. I'm _much_ worse.

**BoltFire:** ...welp, we're fucked. Royally, I might add.

**Pinkie:** Nick...

**BoltFire:** Quick question though, why was Pinkie's death in the dream like that? It just seems too...random.

**Me:** She's a random pony, she gets a random death. And I'm tired of this story being borderline G-rated. It's about damn time I make things go-

_*SMACK!*_

**Derpy:** Stop! Just stop!

*Silence spread throughout*

**Derpy:** What is wrong with you?! We are concerned about you, and you treat us like this?! Sure some of us are only concerned because you write for this universe, but others are genuinely concerned about you, not just what you can do!

**Me:** What, can't a guy like me have a fucking life?!

**Derpy:** Yes but you don't have to be such a fucking dick about it!

**BoltFire:** Hey, be nice to her!

**Derpy/Me:** Stay out of this, Bolt!

**Pinkie:** Well that wasn't very nice!

**Derpy/Me:** You too, Pinkie! We can have a party later!

**Pinkie:** Yay, Pinkie is pleased!

**Derpy:** ...did she just reference...?

**Me:** Sigh...yes...yes she did. Speaking of that, I listened to a rock remix of 'Tubby Wubby Pony Waifu' and your perfect math class, Derpy...Now I want to bring in those three pegasi that keep harassing you, Dash, and Flutters and make their lives a living hell...Welp, there's always next chapter.

**Luna:** Huh...why did you use the point system for Fallout?

**Me:** Because I am Author, therefore I am God...at least I am here.

**Angel:** *Annoying douche-bag rabbit chatter roughly translated to "You took that from Angel Beats!"*

*Bolt, Dark, Shadow, and I punt him back into the story*

**Me:** Holy Shit! Where the hell did you guys go!

**Shadow:** Well, I've been waiting for-fucking-ever for you to continue writing my story...

**Dark-Wings:** And I've been stuck in a self-induced coma for the past few weeks.

**Me:** Good for you. Now Readers, have a good weekend!

**Last minute disclaimers: **I do not own any of the following: My Little Pony Friendship is magic, Alice in Wonder Land, any of the 'Rainbow Dash presents' series, or Derpy's perfect math class. Those belong to their respective owners. I do own BoltFire and any OC that isn't any of the following:

Double Pump - A friend's OC


End file.
